Imagine a prosthetic arm that is powered by artificial muscles with the user's brain. Researchers have been working on the concept for years, and now biomedical engineering students from Toronto have transformed this idea into a reality. The Artificial Muscle-Operated (AMO) Arm is a digital device that takes advantage of the signals fired by the brain after a limb is amputated. A head-set worn by the user senses the signals and wirelessly sends them to a minicomputer in the arm. After comparing the signal information in a database, the computer sends the information to the pneumatic system and directs the arm to the desired movement. The device is powered by a small, refillable tank of compressed air that fits right into the user's pocket.

Michal Prywata and Thiago Caires, biomedical engineering students from Ryerson University, pose with the AMO arm. Photo by James Kachan

Ryerson University students Michal Prywata and Thiago Caires are working to improve the technology. The next step is getting the fingers to individually move. They also formed Bionik Laboratories Inc. to commercialize the technology and are seeking three patents.

Not only is the AMO Arm a new development in the area of prosthetics, but it also costs about one-quarter as much as other functional arms. The device doesn't have microelectronics or motors--features that can raise the price of a prosthetic to more than $80,000. Such prosthetics can require expensive and intricate surgeries (upwards of $300,000) such as targeted muscle reinnervation (During the procedure, the patient's spare muscle is denervated and reinnervated with nerves of the amputated limb). The AMO Arm is noninvasive and, according to Prywata, a patient can understand the mind-control part of the device after only 10 minutes.

--Maria Fontanazza

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