• Name

     Neuro Prosthetics aka Revolutionizing Prosthetic Program

• What is the item

First generation are artificial limbs controlled by the brain. Second generation have feed-back loops that allow the brain to perceive touch, and heft, through the artificial limb. 

• What Horizon is it on

Third Horizon 

• Explanation of the item 

According to ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2009):  "Applause for the SmartHand: Human-Machine Interface is Essential Link in Groundbreaking Prosthetic Hand:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104132708.htm :

"Robin af Ekenstam of Sweden, the project's first human subject, has not only been able to complete extremely complicated tasks like eating and writing, he reports he is also able to "feel" his fingers once again.

"In short, Prof. Shacham-Diamand and his team have seamlessly rewired Ekenstam's mind to his SmartHand.

"Prof. Shacham-Diamand's contribution to the project, on which TAU collaborated with Sweden's Lund University, is the interface between the body's nerves and the device's electronics. "Perfectly good nerve endings remain at the stem of a severed limb," the researcher says. "Our team is building the interface between the device and the nerves in the arm, connecting cognitive neuroscience with state-of-the-art information technologies."

According to DARPA's DSO:

"The Revolutionizing Prosthetics Program will create, within this decade, a fully functional (motor and sensory) upper limb that responds to direct neural control. This revolution will occur by capitalizing on decades of previous DARPA investments in neuroscience, robotics, sensors, power systems, and actuation. In particular, this program builds on DSO’s Human Assisted Neural Devices Program, which has recently decoded the brain’s motor signals with such fidelity that motor movements of a robotic arm can be achieved entirely by direct brain control.

"In two years, DSO will deliver a prosthetic for clinical trials that is far more advanced than any device currently available. This prosthetic will enable many degrees of freedom for grasping and other hand functions, and will be rugged and resilient to environmental factors. In four years, DSO will deliver a prosthetic for clinical trials that has function almost identical to a natural limb in terms of motor control and dexterity, sensory feedback (including proprioception), weight, and environmental resilience. The four-year device will be directly controlled by neural signals. The results of this program will allow upper limb amputees to have as normal a life as possible despite their severe injuries." http://www.darpa.mil/dso/thrusts/bio/restbio_tech/revprost/index.htm 

• Photos (if available)

http://www.darpa.mil/news_images/prosthetics.html

This is a stub article.  Please make it better by adding to it.  Especially if you have news articles, photos and videos of people demonstrating these devices in action.   

• Issues

• Sources

     (1) http://www.darpa.mil/dso/personnel/ling.htm 

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(2) ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2009):  "Applause for the SmartHand: HUman-Machine Interface is Essential Link in Groundbreaking Prosthetic Hand:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104132708.htm 

This is a stub article.  Please make it better by adding to it!