Everyone has heard of smartphones but not so many have heard of “smart limbs.” Although, that’s not so surprising as the boundary-pushing technology is still being developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where MIT professor Hugh Herr, a double amputee and scientist, is helping push forward the possibilities in the field via a procedure called an ‘Ewing Amputation.’
As for what this procedure is, it was created by MIT and Bringham and Women’s Hospital and aims to protect the nerves and muscles in the amputated limb, consequently allowing the individual to communicate with an external device using only the messages sent from their brain. Amazingly, Rebecca Mann, a user of the technology stated that: “it’s sort of like an extension of your body,” adding, “[If I’m] Pretending I’m pointing and flexing my foot and I feel my foot pointing and flexing. And that the results of that is that the robot flexes.” “Being able to kind of have something that I can control with my mind still even though my foot is not there. It kind of brings everything full circle,” before finishing by saying: “It starts to begin to feel like your own limb.”
These amazing achievements are also partly down to the work done by the “Stepping Strong Center” a movement created at Brigham by the family of marathon bombing survivor, Gillian Reny. As for what’s next, the researchers are looking for new and improved sockets that will further improve the communication between the brain and the artificial limb. Take a look at the tech in action below.
