-
Robotic Arm Controlled by Electrical Impulses Aids SMA Patients in Tasks
A robotic arm controlled by electric impulses in the arm muscles can help paralyzed spinal muscular atrophy patients be more independent, case report shows. Click here to read more about this technology.
Would you find this technology helpful in your own life?
-
1 Reply
-
SIGN ME UP!
The ramifications of this are amazing!! What they are calling “simple daily tasks” would be MONUMENTAL to those of us who haven’t been able to use our arms or hands for over a decade. I could actually brush my teeth and my hair again. I could get my own drink without having to ask someone to hold the cup for me. I could reach for things without having to wait until someone came home.
I actually had a rep come to my house to try out the JACO arm about 3 1/2 years ago. While it was pretty cool, it was somewhat difficult for me to use with my sip and puff mechanism on my chair. The learning curve to figure out which puffs & sips to use, along with the time it took to switch gears from driving to JACO, was way too much for me. I would have had to raise the money for it and could not guarantee I would use it often since it was so difficult. I guess I had gotten so used to not using my arms that having this one wasn’t worth the trouble. But, this new device, the sEMG, operates by putting electrodes on my arm which register what I want my arm to do (the electrical impulses of the muscles that are trying to operate my own arm) & instead tells the robotic arm to do what I want but can’t. It’s crazy! Sounds like we are a step away from creating a whole new body for us that will be operated by our brains.
Like I said before … SIGN ME UP!
Log in to reply.