Dean Kamen Develops New Prosthetic Arm–Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway and iBOT) was asked by the Department of Defense to apply his innovation skills to the development of an advanced prosthetic arm with 14 degrees of freedom that is able to pick up a raisin or grape off a table and deliver it to the mouth, while being able to sense what was picked up.  Click here to see the amazing video of his prototype on TED. 

Prosthetic Arm Clearinghouse Encourages Innovation–Innovation in prosthetic arm design has been slow, largely because the market for prosthetic arms is small and the development costs are high, due to the complex functions of the hand and arm.  But Jonathan Kuniholm, a marine reservist who lost his arm when his platoon was ambushed and an IED exploded outside of Baghdad on New Year’s Day 2005, is trying to get innovators to collaborate online to make better prosthetic arms for amputees.

Jonathan, a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University, founded the Open Prosthetic Project (OPP) to encourage engineers, designers and innovators to share their ideas and designs with others.  The OPP acts as a clearinghouse of ideas–contributors are invited to join an ongoing discussion about prosthetic arm design, and to give and take ideas to and from the site.  Nothing is proprietary, and the hope is that this process will encourage design improvements that will benefit upper limb amputees across the country and the world.

Click here to see the full “Scientific American” article.

New technology allows amputees to move their prosthetic arms using their brains and rewired nerves–Targeted Muscle Reinnervation, a new technique, involves connecting the nerves that remain after an amputation to another muscle in the body, often the chest muscle.  Amputees can then use that muscle to move their prosthetic arm, allowing more movements and more fluidity of movements than with past technology.  Click here to see the full New York Times article. 

Veteran’s Families Seek Aid for Caregiver Role—As the number of seriously injured veterans increases, more and more family members of the wounded are choosing to become full-time caregivers for their loved ones.  But in taking on the role of a full-time caregiver, the family member often has to quit another full-time job and give up important source of the family’s income.  So a growing group of veteran’s families is asking the government to compensate them in place of an outside caregiver.

While the government pays for families to hire outside caregivers, in some cases the companies that provide the care do not meet all of a family’s needs.  Regulations might prohibit contracted caregivers from taking the injured veteran outside the house, or the number of daily hours of care might not be enough to cover the time that a working spouse is away from home.  In some cases the contracted caregivers simply do not provide the quality of care that the family expects.  Legislation has been introduced to congress that would allow families of veterans with traumatic brain injury to be paid for their caretaker roles after receiving training and certification.Click here to see full “New York Times” article.

Monkeys Think, Moving Artificial Arm as Own—Past studies have shown humans who have been paralyzed for years can control a cursor on a computer screen with a cursor. This new study, conducted by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, shows that two monkeys with sensors implanted in their brains, can control a mechanical arm to reach for food and even adjust to the size and stickiness of morsels. Experts not involved in the study said the findings were likely to accelerate interest in human testing, especially given the need to treat head and spinal injuries in veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. (Source: New York Times, May 29, 2008)