Bionic Arms: The Future Is Here

According to World Health Organization (WHO), 1.25 million people were died because of road accidents in 2013. 20-50 million people are injured in road accidents globally every year.  Losing essential organs like eyes, hands or legs in road or any other accidents or because of medical conditions affect the people’s entire life. Thanks to the advancement in science and technology, scientists and private companies are developing robotic arms, hands and legs for amputees. The availability of robotic or bionic arms and legs will help amputees live their life normally. 

(Picture of a bionic arm from Wikipedia)

In this article, we will see little about the bionic arms. When the people lose their arm, the motor nerves that control the movement of the arms persist in the remaining muscles. Brain still sends signals to those motor nerves. Even some amputees feel their missing limbs and that sensation is called phantom limb. The bionic arms utilize the brain signal through the motor nerves in the muscle and operate. The brain signals can also be transmitted wirelessly to the bionic arms and operate them.

Bionic arm controlled by mind

With the help of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Revolutionizing Prosthetics program, John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) is developing mind controlled bionic arms. DARPA started this program in 2006 to provide prosthetic arms to the wounded soldiers. The program is also aimed to bring the robotic arms to the market. Commonly, medical world utilizes the advanced technologies developed by the space agencies and military’s research and development departments for welfare of the people. 

Motherboard published the above video about the mind controlled bionic arm developed by JHUAPL. Their bionic arm has a sensor device that receive and process the brain signal and transmit it to the bionic arm or hand. 

Bebionic bionic arm

Bebionic is a Germany based company that produce commercial bionic arms. Bebionic bionic arms directly pick the brain signal from the nerves in the muscles and work like the natural arms. With the 14 selectable grip patterns and precision control, bebionic arms are able to pick up delicate things like eggs as well as heavy objects. Bebionic provides multiple wrist options and silicone gloves. Their silicone gloves come in 19 different natural looking colours and a jet-black colour. 

Open Bionics open source bionic arms

The Open Bionics is a UK based company that produce affordable bionic arms using 3D printing technology. They are weightless and affordable bionic arms in the market. They also manufacture bionic arms in the theme of Marvel, Disney and Star Wars characters for children from the age of 8. But their bionic arms are only available for the UK residents. They are open source. So, anyone can use their technology and develop further.