With the newest technology, comes hope. The Deka Arm, a joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office, offers amputee soldiers the chance to return to a normal lifestyle.
According to the website:
Affectionately dubbed “Luke” (after Luke Skywalker), the robotic arm is a DARPA funded project intended to restore functionality for individuals with upper extremity amputations.
It was created by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway.
The Deka Arm project has been around since 2005, and according to the latest updates, is still being developed in the lab. However, researchers believe this robotic arm can help amputee soldiers increase mobility for everyday tasks.
The Deka Arm is not available at this time for use by the public.
A report by VA Research Currents says:
The DEKA arm is now being tested with Veterans at several VA sites in an “optimization” study. Various methods other than neural control are currently used to operate the arm, such as shoe-embedded sensors that the user presses on with his foot.
via Businessweek
via Deka
Image: via screenshot
