Putting prosthetics on our injured troops
We can agree that the war in Iraq has been tragic and many lives have been taken for not much progress, but what about the troops that have been injured. There are many troops that have lost limbs in the war and are now trying to live with a missing arm or leg. This is a bigger challenge for them than fighting in the war was. Luckily for them, DARPA, or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has created a prototype mind-controlled prosthetic arm. Yes, I said mind controlled. They have made great strides this summer and have created something that can mimic 25 joint motions. This is such an achievement because the human body’s arm can only make 30 motions. This is by far the closest scientists have been in creating a prosthetic that will match the human body movements.
Nicknamed the Proto 2, the prosthetic will be mind-controlled in order to create something that will look as natural as possible. DARPA is considering implanting electrodes in the brain to capture muscle responses, so the arm will move when your brain tries to move it. The technology is simply amazing and if successful, they want to petition the FDA for clinical trials by 2009. This will get them off to a good start. If all goes well with the clinical trials, then our troops and anyone with a missing arm can start to live a more normal life. There is little upkeep with the new prosthetic. The only real thing is replacing its fuel source every morning, which might end up being hydrogen peroxide. Let’s hope that the DARPA scientists can create this fantastic piece of equipment for our troops to lift their spirits!
