The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave its stamp of approval for a mind-controlled prosthetic arm called the DEKA arm on Friday.
DEKA, named after Star Wars hero Luke Skywalker's bionic arm, is about the size and weight of an adult appendage, according to The Verge. The device was built by a company founded by Segway inventor Dean Kamen.
While similar devices are being developed by other scientists and engineers, this is the first prosthetic that the FDA has approved.
DEKA has been designed to let amputees perform small tasks and movements such as cleaning, cooking, manipulating keys, playing Frisbee and others, Liberty Voice reported.
The prosthetic arm can be operated through electromyogram electrodes (EMG), in which the remaining parts of the amputee's arms send signals through electrodes that allow the amputees to perform tasks they wouldn't be able to do without the prosthetic.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has funded the development of the arm to help amputees accomplish robotically-powered movements, The Verge reported.
The funding is only part of DARPA's $1 million "Revolutionizing Prosthetics" program aimed at helping wounded U.S. service members.
Clinical studies of the DEKA Arm System show that 90 percent of the 36 amputees fitted with the arm were able to use it to care for themselves, such as feed themselves or brush their hair, as well as maintain their households, Liberty Voice reported. DEKA can be used to replace an arm amputated at the shoulder joint, as well as arms lost at the mid-lower or mid-upper parts of the arm. However, the FDA said the prosthetic is not for people who have lost a part of their arm at the wrist joint or elbow.
Once the company is able to get financial and commercial support needed to mass market the arm, DEKA will be made widely available to the public.
