Coming soon: "The hand of Skywalker"

Luke Skywalker prosthetic will be released at the end of the year

Ekaterina Rusakova, N+1

The American company Mobius Bionics, engaged in the development of innovative medical equipment, announced the release of a bionic arm prosthesis LUKE arm at the end of 2016. This is reported by BusinessWire (Mobius Bionics to Bring DEKA's LUKE Prosthetic Arm to Market), also writes about the development of TheVerge (DARPA-funded prosthetic arm set to go on sale later this year).

The bionic arm, named after Luke Skywalker from "Star Wars", provides much greater freedom of movement than the already existing serial prostheses. The shoulder joint allows you to raise your arm above your head and put it behind your back, the elbow joint allows you to take heavy objects from the floor and put them on the table. The hand can grasp and hold various objects, both light and fragile, such as a phone or a chicken egg, and relatively heavy, such as a bottle of milk. Also, with the help of a prosthesis, you can perform more complex movements – zip up or brush your teeth.

Electromyographic electrodes are used to control the arm, which are placed on the amputated limb and pick up muscle signals. The computer converts the signal into one of ten possible movements. An additional control system is wireless sensors that are mounted on the user's leg. The prosthesis is protected from water and dust and is available in several configurations. LUKE arm was tested by more than a hundred amputees, the tests lasted more than 10,000 hours.

The prosthesis was designed by the creator of the segway By Dean Kamen and DEKA Company. The development was partially funded by the American research agency DARPA and took several years. In 2014, the prosthesis was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. So far, Mobius Bionics has not named either the exact date of the prosthesis's release to the market, or the cost of the prosthesis.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  13.07.2016