Written By: Nirmalya Dutta | Published : May 10, 2014 11:59 AM IST
For sci-fi geeks and futurists, the light sabre remains the device that they are eagerly waiting for in the real world and while that might not have too many practical applications, another Star Wars device the Luke Skywalker robotic arm is set to hit the shelves soon. The USFDA has approved a robotic arm for amputees called 'Luke' after the Star Wars character which can perform multiple simultaneous movements and will be a huge advance over the metal hook currently in use. The USFDA said that it allowed the sale of the DEKA arms system after reviewing data including those from the US Department of Veterans Affairs study in which 90% of people who used the device were able to perform complex tasks. These tasks included using keys and locks, feeding themselves, brushing, combing and even using zippers!
The prosthetic arm was developed by New Hampshire-based DEKA Research and Development Corp, founded by Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway and other devices. The Pentagon's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency said it provided $40 million in funding to DEKA to develop the robotic arms as part of a $100 million project to improve prosthetics.
'It was designed to produce near-natural upper extremity control to injured people who have suffered amputations. This arm system has the same size, weight, shape and grip strength as an adult's arm would be able to produce,' Justin Sanchez, a program manager in DARPA's biological technologies office, told Reuters in an interview. The device is the first prosthetic arms that can carry out multiple simultaneous movements and is controlled by signals from electromyogram electrodes that detect electrical activity caused as a person contracts muscles.
The electrodes send signals to a computer processor in the arm, which can then make up to 10 specific movements using a combination of switches and sensors.
'The DEKA Arm System may allow some people to perform more complex tasks than they can with current prostheses in a way that more closely resembles the natural motion of the arm,' Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement. The Pentagon's involvement came about because of the type of injuries sustained by U.S. troops in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Pentagon said more than 1,800 U.S. service members underwent major limb amputations as a result of injuries sustained in those wars.
'This prosthetic limb system can pick up objects as delicate as a grape, as well be able to handle very rugged tools like a hand drill,' Sanchez said.
Until now, the best technology available to troops and other who lost an arm was a metal hook, Sanchez said. 'The metal hook was the most commonly used prosthetic device for the last hundred years.'
According to the DEKA 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.'
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