J A C O B O C C E R E S

PROBLEM & SOLUTION

A highly advanced prosthetic arm has just been approved for
marketing in the United States by federal regulators, providing
a way for every-day amputee victims to perform complex
tasks via a robotic limb for the first time.
The prosthetic arm, called the DEKA Arm System, was created
by Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway - a popular novel
transportation unit that resembles a two-wheeled scooter.
According to an announcement made by the US Food and Drug
Administration, the DEKA Arm System is "the first prosthetic
arm that can perform multiple, simultaneous powered
movements controlled by electrical signals from
electromyogram (EMG) electrodes.

IMPORTANT CHARATERISTICS
The arm can perform one of 10 different complex
actions at a time, limiting intense applications of the
limb, but still offering amputee victims a wide range
of movement not previously thought possible.
The prosthetic arm gained federal approval after
clinical studies involving 36 veteran amputees
showed that 90 percent of the participants were
able to perform common household activities such
as using keys and locks, cooking, cleaning, and
eating, soon after becoming familiar with the
command system of the robotic arm.

CONCLUSION
One experimental prosthetic hand can even help
amputee victims distinguish the difference between
rough vs. smooth, and hard vs. soft surfaces. A
recent mid-trial report published in the
journal Science Translational Medicine earlier this
year detailed how an experimental subject had
successfully controlled an experimental prosthetic
arm with motor signals interpreted directly from the
brain. More impressive still, the subject had
successfully identified the texture of three objects
while blindfolded, "feeling" the objects he held in his
prosthetic hand.