CYBORG OF THE WEEK: BIONIC ARM
by Hazed
What you want in a prosthetic arm is enough strength to be able to pick up and hold reasonably heavy items, but enough sensitivity not to crush delicate things. Not an easy combination.
But now a British company has developed the BeBionic3 arm and hand, and fitted it to a man who lost his right forearm in an industrial blending accident (wince!). The cyborg has been showing off his new arm, which is sensitive enough to grasp an egg without breaking it, and strong enough to hold a pint of beer.
This clever arm has sensors which detect myoelectric pulses made by the owner twitching his arm muscles. The arm translates them into different actions, which can be programmed in as required. Articulated fingers can be controlled to a fine degree by varying the intensity of the muscle action.
You can watch a video of Nigel Ackland demonstrating his cyborg arm here.
