DARPA's Better Bionic Arm: Our Most Limb-Like Prosthetic
A new mechanical arm gives its user the sense of touch.
From: Popular Mechanics - 07/2007
By: Erik Sofge

It's an ambitious deadline: By 2009, DARPA hopes to have a mechanical arm
whose functionality is on par with a flesh-and-blood limb. A new arm
developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Laboratory (APL) is just as ambitious, allowing its user to actually feel an
object in his grasp.  

Proto 1, the first prototype to come out of DARPA's prosthetic initiative,
was tested by Jesse Sullivan, a lineman who lost both of his arms in an
accident six years ago. Proto 1 was attached to nerves in Sullivan's chest
and shoulder, much like prosthetics he's tested in the past. But instead of
simply watching his fingers close on a plastic cup, Sullivan received direct
sensory feedback, triggering the sensation of grip in the nerve receptors
that map to his missing hand. Proto 1 also allows for more natural walking,
since it can swing freely.  

APL expects to complete Proto 2 by the end of the summer. That arm should be
stronger, faster and more flexible, and will provide even more sensory
feedback, including limb position and temperature. The catch: To accommodate
more advanced prosthetics, users will need to become even more bionic,
replacing surface electrodes with tiny sensors that will be implanted or
injected into the body. 

Read the article at:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health_medicine/4218218.html

Links:
Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 Team Delivers First DARPA Limb Prototype
http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2007/070426.asp

Bionics Made Better
Popular Science - 09/2007 - page 36
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/index.html

Gripping New Technology
Proto Magazine - Summer 2007 - page 13
http://protomag.com/issues/2007_summer/cutting_edge.html