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Jesse Sullivan demonstrates the new prosthetic limb.
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Detailed cost figures were not available, but researchers at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, working with specialists around the world, have developed a prototype bionic limb that moves at eight different joints and gives heat and pressure signals to the wearer.
In the first part of a four-year federal program, Proto 1 uses patient Jesse Sullivan’s original motor control nerves, rerouted to a grid in his chest, said project leader Stuart Harshbarger, of APL in Laurel.
Discovering the sensory feedback was a lucky surprise, he said
“It wasn’t planned; we sort of lucked into it,” Harshbarger said. “There’s a map on his chest. If you push on that map, he feels different areas as if you’re pushing on his hand. He also feels temperature differences.”
Doctors removed sensory nerves from the Michigan lineman’s chest, replacing them with the motor-nerve bundle from his arm. What they found was that the sensory nerves came with the package. Engineers working on the arm modified it to make use of those nerves, as well.
Another major milestone for this prosthetic is that it fits entirely within the natural form of Sullivan’s original arm. A latex rubber coating expertly painted to match earlier photos of Sullivan makes it look like he never lost his arm in an electrocution accident.
Proto 1, developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics Program, allows unprecedented freedom, including multiple thumb grips, a swinging motion to allow Sullivan a more natural gait.
Eventually intended for injured soldiers, the project is entering its second of four years. By this summer, Harshbarger said, they expect to unveil a second prototype with 25 to 27 degrees of freedom and individually controlled joints and pivots.
Proto 1 was fitted for clinical evaluations conducted by team partners at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in January and February. Harshbarger leads a group of more than 30 government agencies, universities, and private firms from the United States, Europe and Canada.
“The results we are achieving in this highly collaborative project are very exciting, and I am confident that these discoveries will bring more natural control of prostheses, better artificial limbs and make a difference in the lives of amputees worldwide,” said Dr. Todd Kuiken, the director of the Neural Engineering Center for Bionic Medicine at RIC.
khille@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
9:26 AM MST on Wed., Sep. 17, 2008 re: "Creatine could help in Parkinson’s fight"
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2:20 PM MST on Sun., Feb. 10, 2008
re: "Inmate gets drunk on hand sanitizer"
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6:48 PM MST on Wed., Aug. 8, 2007
re: "Inmate gets drunk on hand sanitizer"
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8:24 AM MST on Sun., Jun. 10, 2007
re: "Inmate gets drunk on hand sanitizer"
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Examiner Reader said:
I know how it works. Creatine ups ATP which inturn stops the hyperpolarizing of brain cells by leptin. MTGDGW
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Examiner Reader said:
Your alcohol facts are not quite straight. You mentioned Avant Hand Sanitizer- it has denatured alcohol. The denaturing process adds a bitter agent- it make sit taste horrible- definitely not a vodka type drink. That is why alcohol is denatured- to avoid abuse like this. It will likely make you vomit.
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Examiner Reader said:
Former Minneapolis Fire Chief: A First Responder in I-35W Bridge Collapse; Coordinates Helping Hand Contribution of Soapopular Hand Sanitizers For EMS Workers For Immediate Release Minneapolis, MN, Aug 8, 2007-- Former Minneapolis Fire Department Chief Bonnie Bleskachek, an embattled hero to many in the Minneapolis community, hasn't allowed recent personal controversy to stand in the way of helping Minnesota citizens in times of crisis. Since the August 1 catastrophe first occurred, Bleskachek has been working tirelessly by coordinating volunteer and emergency supply logistics, and she was the first to respond to an unsolicited call from a Connecticut company offering to contribute a shipment of Soapopular, a new, alcohol-free hand sanitizer, for emergency workers at the disaster scene.
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Examiner Reader said:
Hand-Sanitizer=Alcohol Poisoning.. As inane as the subject might seam, the exponential growth in the use of hand sanitizer products over the past few years has lead to an ever-increasing number of alcohol-poisoning instances--and too many within school/educational settings. Most recent report was two weeks ago in Hartford CT, where second grader, overloaded her hands from a Purell bottle on her teachers desk ,then licked it off--and was soon rushed to Yale University Hospital and diagnosed with alchohol poisoning. Thank goodness that some new manufacturers, including Soapopular--which offers a full line of Alcohol-FREE hand sanitizing products, are now getting retailers to put their products on their shelves. Soapopular, which is Canada's leading brand in the alcohol-free segment, made its debut last week here in the US.
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