Bebionic is available this month for $11000.

RSLSteeper, creator of the Bebionic artificial hand, has just announced that the hand will be offered at a price of $11,000 (€9000) around the world. Amputees control the prosthetic limb using my-oelectric sensors that read signals on the surface of the skin from residual muscle. To the outside observer it looks like you are moving the hand with your thoughts. This advanced system typically allows you to start using the new limb immediately and get comfortable with it in a few days. While Bebionic is not the only myo-electric hand on the market, it does seem to be the least expensive. That may lead to many amputees choosing to adopt it when it goes on sale later this month. Check out the video below of the launch of Bebionic during the ISPO World Congress in May. Watch amputees completely new to the device try it out around 2:40!

RSLSteeper faces fierce competition from TouchBionics, the maker of the i-Limb Hand, which has been on the market for a few years, and comes with removable digits. As I mentioned when I first reviewed the Bebionic hand in February, the i-Limb is a very similar device, and both have the same four major grips that users can switch between (key, precision, pointer, power). Touch Bionics may have stepped out ahead last month with the release of the i-Limb Pulse, a new hand that allows for pulsing grips and a few other upgrades. However, the Bebionic’s price tag is a powerful advantage, and is about 35% less than i-Limb (~$17k USD at time of writing). Maybe RSLSteeper read the end of my latest article on their device?

We have to remember that most hand amputees still use traditional hook systems that haven’t really changed much since the 40s and that retail for $500 or so. A big reason is that (except for veterans) most amputees can’t get enough money from their insurance agencies to cover expensive prosthetics. $11,000 still isn’t cheap, but it’s a big step in the right direction. Though it would be nice if the fancy synthetic skin covering (available in 19 shades of humanity) was included in that price instead of an additional $600. In any case, major kudos to RSLSteeper for getting a top of the line myo-electric hand closer to fitting in the budget of the average family.

My accolades, however, are notoriously fickle. I would gladly praise Touch Bionics or any other company that can get a myo-electric hand to the market for less than $10k. So keep up the competition, please! Eventually we may see prosthetic hands directly wired into the nervous system, but until we do myo-electrics are still the most advanced systems out there. Not as good as a natural hand, but they come pretty close. Check out the Bebionic in action in the promo video below (apologies for using it for a third time).

*UPDATE: The Bebionic hand will be offered through SPS in the United States, though a USA branch of RSLSteeper will be opening in San Antonion, Texas later this month.

[screen capture and video credit: Bebionic/Mark Hunter]
[source: RSL Steeper press release]

That little blue box is one of the world's smartest knees.

They won’t give you superhuman strength, and they definitely don’t cost six million dollars, but the artificial limbs from Ossur can think to help you walk better. The Rheo Knee, Power Knee, and Proprio Foot prosthetics all carry onboard artificial intelligences that help amputees use their bionic limbs with security and accuracy. Not only do the limbs move in a natural way and provide the strength to climb stairs foot over foot, they learn the user’s gait. Overtime, the bionic limbs will know how you walk better than you do. Check out a French demonstration video of the Power Knee after the break.

Based in Reykjavik, Iceland Ossur is a global leader in prosthetics, braces, and orthopedic education. The founder developed some of the first artificial limbs by testing them on his daughter. The new wave of bionic limbs may be drastically better than older models, but this isn’t enough for current CEO Jon Sigurdsson. His goal is to create limbs that are as good or better than the real thing. Certainly the knees and feet with artificial intelligence go a long way to helping amputees walk and run as well as their peers

Both the Rheo knee and Proprio foot (shown in image above) contain onboard computers that perform minute changes to the prosthetic to help it respond to variations in movement. The Proprio flexes to match terrain, and adjusts the ankle to fit different slopes. The Rheo adjusts actuators to control leg swing. Together, this provides the user with increased security. The embedded AIs can learn an amputees gait in just 15 steps, but continues to adjust as the user grows accustomed to the devices.

It’s the Power Knee, however, that really makes me worry about amputee world domination. This thing is so cool. It provides enough strength for users to climb stairs easily (as seen in the video) and will actually prepare itself for the next step. The AI is also smart enough to match the powered movement with the user’s natural gait. On level ground the knee uses its strength to help propel you forward, letting you walk further without getting tired.

If you’re not terribly excited by watching some guy climb steps, you’re missing the promise of cybernetic enhancement shown in the video. Not only is Ossur pioneering bionic limbs, they are actively developing prosthetics that provide additional strength. All while making them smart and safe enough for use by amputees. Once the technology really gets going, we could see limbs with power and agility far greater than ordinary human function.

I’m not sure if Ossur is seeking to create cyborgs, but they’ve definitely set up the process that could get us there. Under Sigurdsson guidance, the company is seeking to develop, or partner with groups developing, powered motion, neuro-sensing, and osseointegration (bone grafting the prosthetic). They’ve also started Ossur Academy, a seminar system that helps to educate professionals, amputees, and their families in the finer points of artificial limbs and advanced orthopedic supports. Combining technology and teaching is a key ingredient in developing a field quickly.

Whether or not they are ultimately successful, Ossur’s devices show that artificial limbs have as much promise to augment humanity as the exoskeletons we’ve seen from Cyberdyne and Sarcos. The artificial intelligence alone may make bionic limbs the easiest to use. Hopefully, Ossur’s approach will allow them to create a next generation of powered limbs that are better than before. Better, stronger, faster…smarter?

Kepner's surgery underway. Photo courtesy of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Kepner, a 57-year-old pastry chef living in Georgia, got his new hands after a nine-hour surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is still recovering, but has strong circulation in both hands and has showed no signs of organ rejection. The success of his surgery is in part due to a unique new procedure to improve an organ’s chance of being accepted by the body.

Whenever an organ transplant takes place, doctors have to suppress the recipient’s immune system so that it does not reject the new organ outright. This suppression requires toxic drugs that can increase the chances of infection, cancer, diabetes, or other complications. But in the past decade, an innovative procedure has been used to reduce the need for such drugs while still minimizing the likelihood of rejection. Used during Kepner’s transplant, the procedure transplants stems cells from bone marrow into the donated organs, helping the immune system more quickly recognize the hands as part of the body.

Kepner has a long road ahead of him. He’ll need extensive physical therapy before he can use his new hands effectively. This is because when limbs are lost, the areas of the brain responsible for their control get shifted on to other functions. But there’s good news: doctors have recently shown that by reconnecting the nerves to the hands, the motor cortex recognizes their presence and can regain control. It’s not exactly plug-and-play, but the plasticity of the brain will improve Kepner’s ability to use his new hands over time.

The donated hands came from 23-year-old Jeff Keen, who died in an unspecified accident. As an organ donor, Keen’s liver, kidneys, heart, and one lung have already found new homes in five different recipients. Not only that, but his hand donation has made medical history. This was the first double hand donation in the US, and the ninth worldwide. Even single hand transplants are a pretty rare and recent procedure, with the first successful case in the US taking place in 1999 (there have only been six since). It’s an amazing thing how far organ transplants have come, and hard to imagine the future benefits they might still have in store.

Kepner signing up for his upcoming transplant

As we’ve reported in the past, prosthetic technologies are constantly getting better and better. Soon, a prosthetic limb could respond directly to the motor-sensory cortex, providing the same feeling and control as a natural limb. The day will soon come that prosthetics will be so well designed and integrated into the body that many folks will prefer them to natural limbs. But for many people, even a fully functional prosthetic could never replace the real thing, psychologically speaking. Procedures like these transplants show the amazing strides we’re taking to improve the quality of life for amputees.

Our ability to grow new organs in a laboratory setting has increased by leaps and bounds in recent years. Soon, you’ll even be able to custom-order an organ from the company Tengion.  At some point in the near future, growing a new hand might be a real possibility, cutting out the need for transplants between individuals and all the risks of rejection that come with.

But until these practices become safe and widespread, organ donation will continue to prove itself a public good, especially as our ability to perform successful transplants continues to increase. Unless you’re an Egyptian pagan, you probably won’t need your organs after the lights go out. So right now, look down at your hands, and imagine them making pastries with their new owner long after you’re dead. Isn’t that kinda cool?

So what’s it say on your driver’s license?

Even while Dean Kamen and others we have previously reported on work on advanced robotic prostheses, the i-LIMB shows how keeping it simple can still provide amazing improvements to quality of life for amputees.   The i-LIMB uses electrodes placed on the skin of the remaining portion of the patient’s limb, usually on the top and bottom of the forearm.  When the patient moves the muscles that would normally have extended into their hand, the electrodes pick up on electrical signals generated by the muscle movement.   These signals become the basis for individual finger movement within the i-LIMB.

Introduced in 2007 by Scottish company Touch Bionics, the i-LIMB is capable of a variety of unique grip positions that allow the user to balance power and precision as needed.  By extending the index finger alone, patients can type on a keyboard or push buttons.  The user can also grip a key or dinner plate by rotating the thumb to meet the side of the index finger.  The prosthetic is capable of stopping when a sufficient grip is achieved, allowing the patient to grip sensitive objects (e.g. a styrofoam cup) without crushing them.  These more fine-tuned features give the i-LIMB a functionality that enhances the patient’s everyday life.

Patients can choose between a number of cosmetic gloves, including amazingly lifelike skins that blend in naturally with the rest of the body.  The i-LIMB also has a modular construction that allows each finger to be detached by removing one screw.  This way, a digit needing service can be quickly swapped out for a new one, rather than leaving the patient without their prosthetic while it’s being serviced.   The i-LIMB currently costs about $18,000, and is being used by over 600 patients.  More information can be found at the Touch Bionics website.

Check out the i-LIMB in action, as reported by Voice of America:

So what’s next for Touch Bionics?  “We are shortly to release our lower profile i-LIMB Hand which is more appropriate for female and smaller male users,” says Phil Newman, Director of Marketing.  The company is also developing a product for patients missing individual fingers.  “Our next big focus is ProDigits – replacement fingers.  This is a technology for a much larger patient population which has never had a powered finger option before.  We are very excited about this and have a significant number of trial fittings in play.”

Of course, the ideal prosthetic would be hardwired into the nervous system, capable of carrying motor information directly from the brain to the prosthetic and sensory information back up to the brain.  This is exactly the goal of research into Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR) and Targeted Sensory Reinnervation (TSR).  But until these techniques are ready for widespread use, the i-LIMB shows that traditional muscle sensors can improve the quality of life for individuals today.

In the ongoing ethical debates surrounding body augmentation, prosthetics are usually spared accusations of being “unnatural.”  Like antibiotics or hip replacements (to name just a few), prosthetic limbs are widely accepted as beneficial technologies and medical miracles.  Amid the controversies over nanobots or genetic engineering, these less contentious advances should enter into the debate of what a “natural” human being really is.  Natural or not, replacements like the i-LIMB are improving the lives of amputees around the world, and only hint at the possibilities that the future will hold.

Now who can argue with that?

The major advance behind these prosthetic arms is a surgical procedure called Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR) that reassigns the nerves that once controlled the patient’s arm and hand to the patient’s pectoral muscles.  Hand and arm signals from the patients brain can then travel into the pectoral muscle and be fed into a computer, which converts the signals into inputs for the prosthetic arm.  This transfer of brain intentions into signals that can control a robotic device is known as Brain Computer Interfacing, or BCI.

Creating the ultimate prosthetic arm is a daunting challenge, requiring an interdisciplinary collaboration across many fields to achieve success.  The BCI advances used in this prosthetic arm would be useless without accompanying advances in robotic arm agility and function present in the project’s DEKA robotic arm.  We reported on the DEKA arm last year.

See the prosthetic arm in action in the video below.  Remember, this arm is being completely controlled by the patient’s thoughts.  Note the electrodes on the pectoral muscle where the brain’s signals have been surgically re-routed for capture: