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| British engineers develop prosthetic hand that can ' see ' |
Biomedical engineers at the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom have developed a prosthetic hand with an incredible new skill: the ability to "see".
The bionic hand is equipped with a camera that "instantly takes a photograph of the object in front of it, evaluates its shape and size and triggers a series of movements in the hand," according to a school press release.
All-seeing hand
The team expects this to opens a new era of prosthetic hands that work better than anything available today, allowing the user to automatically reach objects, without thinking. Today's prosthetic hands require the carrier to physically stimulate the muscles of the arm for movement, a process that takes concentration and practice.
"The new bionic hand avoids this process: ' Go ' and react in a fluid motion," said the school. "The hand ' sees ' an object, chooses the most appropriate grip and sends a signal ... all in a matter of milliseconds and ten times faster than any other extremity currently on the market."
Developers have already tested this new technology with a small number of amputees. Now, they are working with Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to offer innovation to patients. A report on his work was published this week in the Journal of Neural Engineering. In the future, they expect to develop a bionic hand that can detect pressure and temperature and transmit this information to the user's brain.
In a statement, co-author of the study, Dr. Kianoush Nazarpour, professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Newcastle, said that prosthetic limbs have not changed much since the last century.
"The design is much better and the materials are lighter and more durable, but they still work the same way," said Nazarpour. "Using the computer vision, we have developed a bionic hand that can respond automatically." In fact, like a real hand, the user can come and pick up a cup or cookie with nothing but a quick look in the right direction.
The bionic hand is equipped with a camera that "instantly takes a photograph of the object in front of it, evaluates its shape and size and triggers a series of movements in the hand," according to a school press release.
All-seeing hand
The team expects this to opens a new era of prosthetic hands that work better than anything available today, allowing the user to automatically reach objects, without thinking. Today's prosthetic hands require the carrier to physically stimulate the muscles of the arm for movement, a process that takes concentration and practice.
"The new bionic hand avoids this process: ' Go ' and react in a fluid motion," said the school. "The hand ' sees ' an object, chooses the most appropriate grip and sends a signal ... all in a matter of milliseconds and ten times faster than any other extremity currently on the market."
Developers have already tested this new technology with a small number of amputees. Now, they are working with Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to offer innovation to patients. A report on his work was published this week in the Journal of Neural Engineering. In the future, they expect to develop a bionic hand that can detect pressure and temperature and transmit this information to the user's brain.
In a statement, co-author of the study, Dr. Kianoush Nazarpour, professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Newcastle, said that prosthetic limbs have not changed much since the last century.
"The design is much better and the materials are lighter and more durable, but they still work the same way," said Nazarpour. "Using the computer vision, we have developed a bionic hand that can respond automatically." In fact, like a real hand, the user can come and pick up a cup or cookie with nothing but a quick look in the right direction.
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