In the latest mind-controlled robotics news, Les Baugh from Colorado has become the world's first amputee to wear and control two bionic arms at the same time.
Baugh lost both arms 40 years ago in an electrical accident, and was given his robot arms by the Johns Hopkins University of Applied Physics Laboratory, according to CNET. He had to undergo a type of surgery called target muscle reinnervation, in which existing nerves were reassigned to connect to the Modular Prosthetic Limbs (MPL) so they can perform different tasks.
"It's a relatively new surgical procedure that reassigns nerves that once controlled the arm and the hand," explained Dr. Albert Chi, a trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins. "By reassigning existing nerves, we can make it possible for people who have had upper-arm amputations to control their prosthetic devices by merely thinking about the action they want to perform."
The team had Baugh go through training to make sure he knew how to use his new arms before receiving them. He had to learn how to use the APL's pattern recognition system, which takes information about individual muscles and how they communicate with each other and translates it into instructions for controlling prosthetic limbs.
A custom socket was designed for Baugh's torso since his arms were cut off from the shoulder, Engadget reported.
The project proved to be a success, with Baugh showing he was able to move cups from one shelf to another after only 10 days of training.
"We expected him to exceed performance to what he might achieve with conventional systems, but the speed with which he learned motions and the number of motions he was able to control in such a short period of time was far beyond expectation," said Courtney Moran, one of the researchers. "What really was amazing, and was another major milestone with MPL control, was his ability to control a combination of motions across both arms at the same time. This was a first for simultaneous bimanual control."
The research team plans on creating a pair of arms that Baugh can take home and use on a daily basis, CNET reported.
"Maybe for once I'll be able to put change in the pop machine and get pop out of it," Baugh said.
