Proto-2 Gives War Amputees Hope

Article: http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2007-08/bionic-made-better

Supplemental: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-03/darpa-orders-prosthetics-controlled-directly-through-brain-implants

War is devastating to everyone, but even more devastating to a family of a soldier is them returning home without a limb, unable to support their families. DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has been working on prosthetics for soldier amputees for years, and their first major breakthrough came with the Proto-1. With normal prosthetic limbs, the patient can watch his or her "fingers" close onto a cup or some other object, but only use their visual senses. With the Proto-1, it is attached to nerves in the chest and shoulder, allowing for direct sensory feedback. That was in 2007, over three years ago. Now, the Proto 2 is stronger, faster, and even more flexible. It provides more sensory feedback than even the Proto 1, even temperature. The patient will be injected with tiny nerve sensors that will be used for feedback. However, the Proto 2 isn't quite perfect yet. The battery pack is large and the arm itself weighs 9.5 pounds currently (compared to their goal of 7 pounds). Without refining or not, however, it cannot be denied that the Proto 2 is a major breakthrough in the field of prosthetics.

I chose this article because I have always been most interested in the prosthetics faucet of Biomedical Engineering, and would love to specialize my field into prosthesis. Reading about the Proto 1 and Proto 2, and the 50 million dollar grant DARPA just received to continue their research excites me, and I would love to get into the field now just as it is booming.