SECRETE TECH BIONIC ARM: the perfect fusion between muscle and nerve

According to foreign media reports, the evening of 1 November 2008, the armored vehicles patrol in Baghdad by militants two grenade attacks, in which a breakdown of the truck door, the melting temperature of copper liquid through the Sheriff Glen Lehman
 

(Glen Lehman) right elbow, followed by the hot liquid metal continues to spread to Lehman's lap. Although twenty minutes later arrived at the field hospital by helicopter transfer to forty kilometers outside the coalition base in Balad. Then Lehman blood loss is almost half of the systemic blood. German doctor will arm above the elbow part of Lehman total removal, and ultimately transported to Washington in the United States Walter Reed (Walter Reed) Army Medical Center.

High-tech prostheses has been one of bionics research directions

Often encounter such as Lehman veterans will get a prosthetic arm, if you're lucky, he will continue to live. But Lehman prosthetic requires a suitable shape, so doctors performed a called targeted muscle nerve grafting (TMR) experimental surgery, surgical success if Lehman will receive an extraordinary high-tech bionic prostheses.

Experimental surgeons surgeon carefully peel his arm nerves, these nerves are usually part of the activities is to control the elbow. His peripheral radial nerve structures can be controlled palms open to the outside of the triceps, and the median nerve is the control hand close to the inside of the biceps. surgeons surgery can be regarded as a strange "creation", and will produce magical effects. Wear high-tech prostheses, when Lehman want to move when he had lost his right arm, the skin will appear rippling folds, while the brain is still physical signals sent as usual. When he tried to close the hand, the artificial neural excitability in conduction biceps contraction. Re "modification" of the nerve route can improve the ability to control the magical bionic prostheses, this high-tech bionic prostheses principle is to use the computer reads generated by the muscle EMG pulse. Lehman put his new arm, may be regarded as a true cyborg, but he is not science fiction organism's body recovered Institute in Chicago in just three experiments will be high-tech bionic Lehman prostheses attached to his body.

In addition, researchers at their clothes cuff attach eight pairs of disk-shaped electrodes to control the EMG activity. This last prostheses through the sleeves and body to fine-tune and adapt Lehman, through the sling wrapped around the trunk positioning. The new high-tech bionic arm is international integration product, has been hailed as "Monster Collection." Because of elbow and forearm from a company located in Massachusetts, rotating the wrist from Germany, palm produce from China.

A total weight of 4.84 pounds. Lehman before starting the bionic prosthesis using normal left click buttons in prosthetic elbow part, prosthetic adjustments automatic lifting device to start working, you can bend the elbow, and then can straighten, rotate the wrist. Movement through the entire testing process, artificial limbs draw a perfect circle, although the process make people nervous, and finally closed and the thumb and index finger can be started again, looks like a robot practicing tai chi. Lehman staring at this high-tech bionic arm and the control arm movement through imagination, like the control arm he had used the same way. Control arm exercises can concentrate the connecting portion arm and torso, this part of the electrode guiding triggered neuromuscular activity. The size of a phone set in a small computer Lehman shoulder strap, which is to control the various actions of the arm central processor stores the various instructions on the movement of the arm.

For example, when the hand grip, the Lehman can "tell" the computer "pinch" the verb, the computer will remember his ideological activities about pinching, the information recorded under the corresponding muscle activity signal. However, if Lehman will be embedded in the sensor on the back strap off, then his next command robotic arm to perform "pinch" this action is necessary for the computer to re-demonstration again, this is because the shoulder sensor only record the current position of the muscle activity signal, once moved the location of the sensor needs to start from scratch.

Lehman arm and trunk connection location with daily exercise, muscle stretch and contraction, stretched skin began to come from brain activity fundamentally will change with the addition arm, he can be observed every day their movement arm in a different way. After the necessary training, Lehman began to show up this ultra-high performance hi-tech bionic arm, he was able to lift and jacket zipper head, similar to the normal use of the thumb and forefinger to do action. He also can use the arm into the refrigerator, took out a bottle and can even pick up a coin and put into the mouth of a coin. However, Lehman now control far from perfect, right before he was in the control arm holding the zipper when you try several times before they succeed. Lehman now bionic arm exercises if the bottle is dropped, picked up on the left hand with a normal, continue to try to put back in the refrigerator.
 
Although the contact process is repeated and strenuous, but this high tech bionic prosthetic arm than the traditional "smart" a lot in the past few months need time to adapt. Lehman thinks he now needs to practice exercises, from the control arm and had to tell it what to do, become freely control the manipulator, it listen to their ideas.