Mandeville Man Ready for Amputation, Bionic Arm
From: Medical Design Technology - 09/15/2017

Perry Pezzarossi of Mandeville left for a trip to Salt Lake City on Aug. 22.
It'll be no vacation.

He's traveling to Utah's picturesque capital city where he will get his right
arm cut off below the elbow. In a way, he's looking forward to it.

The Army veteran is nervous but hopes the amputation will pave the way for
him to join the few in the U.S. to be outfitted with a recently approved,
state-of-the-art bionic hand and wrist called the LUKE, developed under the
US Department of Defense for injured soldiers.

If things go as planned, in a year or so he will be outfitted with the LUKE,
which stands for Life Under Kinetic Evolution and is also a nod to the limb
movie hero Luke Skywalker was equipped with in "Star Wars: Episode V The
Empire Strikes Back."

Most of those who have received the LUKE thus far control the hand via
sensors worn on the feet. But Pezzarossi will be a special case.

He is participating in a clinical trial in which University of Utah doctors
will implant dozens of electrodes into what remains of his forearm to record
signals from the muscles and control a prosthetic hand. The clinical trial
also involves the use of sensors in the prosthetic's fingers that can tell
the user how hard they are gripping an object.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2017/09/mandeville-man-ready-amputation-bionic-arm

Links:
LUKE Arm
http://www.mobiusbionics.com/the-luke-arm.html

Veterans Receive DARPA’s LUKE Arm (video 3:12)
https://youtu.be/Zg-FH1Gn2Ls

Related:
Advanced Prosthetic Arms Developed by Pentagon Set for Sale
https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2017/07/advanced-prosthetic-arms-developed-pentagon-set-sale

Veterans in Utah Among 1st to Get First Prosthetic Implants
https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2015/12/veterans-utah-among-1st-get-first-prosthetic-implants