"Luke Skywalker Arm" Ready for Clinical Trials

Dean Kamen, an engineer at DEKA research, was asked by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to create a better prosthetic arm. After two years of research and innovation, his "Luke Skywalker Arm" has received more funding in order to start clinical trials. This state of the art prosthetic allows amputees to pick up objects as small and thin as razor blades, as heavy as a gallon of water, and as delicate as a grape. Patients are even able to reach above their head, which has not been possible with previous prosthetics. The device is the size and weight of a regular arm and has 18 out of the 22 degrees of freedom as a normal human arm. The shoulder to elbow, elbow to wrist, and hand are all wired separately in order to accommodate all arm amputees.

I found it interesting that most amputees, after receiving a prosthetic arm, stop wearing it after a couple years because it is so uncomfortable. This was one of Kamen's main focuses, because even the most advanced prosthetic is useless if no one uses it. He came up with a new type of socket that will be more comfortable for wearers. The arm can be surgically attached to residual nerves in the patients stump, so that they get neural feedback from the prosthetic. It can also be attached without surgery, with a little vibrating motor placed where the real part of the arm meets the prosthetic to give the patient feedback on how hard they are gripping an object and adjust accordingly. Kamen and DEKA research are optimistic about the future of the device.