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Icelandic Össur Technology announces that they have successfully made and installed subconsciously controlled prosthetic lower legs, ankles, and feet for two amputees and are preparing large-scale clinical trials. They hope to have such artificial legs (requiring surviving thighs) widely commercially available within three to five years. The company previously won the 2005 'Best of What's New' Popular Science magazine award for their artificial knee.
The legs use implants called myoelectric sensors (IMES Implanted MyoElectric Sensor) provided by the Alfred Mann Foundation from the United States. It's a bit unclear why Össur claims to be first as IMES have previously been used to trigger prosthetic leg movement by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago but it seems that Össur are the first to have amputees using such artificial legs, from the Popular Science article:
Ossur's sensor-linked limbs, meanwhile, have stood up to the abuses of everyday activity in Iceland and England (where Olafsson now lives). During the 14-month testing period, the company's two "first-in-man" subjects have worn the devices as their sole prostheses. Ossur checks the equipment and collects data, but the limbs are theirs. And the surgery to implant the sensors was minimal. According to Thorvaldur Ingvarsson, an orthopedic surgeon and head of R&D at Ossur, the procedure took 15 minutes, and each sensor required a single-centimeter-long incision. The tiny sensors (3 millimeters-by-80 millimeters) are powered by magnetic coils embedded in the socket -- the cushioned, hollow component that fits over a user's residual limb, and connects to the prosthesis. Since there are no integrated batteries to deal with, there's no need to replace the sensors (unless they fail for other reasons). "We believe this is a lifelong sensor," says Ingvarsson.
The IMES are surgically implanted in residual muscle tissue and connected to a receiver in the prosthetics, the signaling is continuous, immediate/real-time, and subconscious or instinctual (in addition to deliberate) in the same manner as with ordinary leg use.
The story has also been reported by RT which has some different images of the devices.
Original Submission
(Score: 2, Interesting) by KGIII on Tuesday June 09 2015, @04:06AM
How much longer until they can put a wifi antenna on the top of my head (I still have hair, damn it) and an ethernet jack in my neck so that I can just "jack in" (not the opposite of jack off) to the 'net and be done with it? Seriously. I would volunteer and pay for as much of the research as I can afford if someone had a realistic idea as to how to do this. I would even go so far as to insist the research be open to the public and hardware be standards compliant.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 09 2015, @04:44AM
Malware uploaded into your brain. You now have an insatiable craving to eat some Twinkies. Don't stop until you die.
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Tuesday June 09 2015, @05:37AM
I am hoping brain power will negate the need for AV software but security is a process. I am going to go with obscurity and install Puppy Linux. I am also old so I do not have much drive space left. I may dual boot and use a proprietary OS for when I am intoxicated and want to apply meatspace caps lock.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."