Revolutionizing Prosthetics, neurally controlled artificial limb for upper-extremity amputee patients, Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, U

Under Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsorship, APL is leading a revolution in prosthetic arm capabilities, an effort that is producing prostheses with functional capabilities similar to those of native limbs. The Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL) offers 22 degrees of motion, including independent movement of each finger, in a package that weighs about nine pounds (the weight of a natural limb). Providing nearly as much dexterity as a natural limb, the MPL is capable of unprecedented mechanical agility and is designed to respond to a user's thoughts.

Click to expand...

A Colorado man made history at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) this summer when he became the first bilateral shoulder-level amputee to wear and simultaneously control two of the Laboratory’s Modular Prosthetic Limbs. Most importantly, Les Baugh, who lost both arms in an electrical accident 40 years ago, was able to operate the system by simply thinking about moving his limbs, performing a variety of tasks during a short training period.

Click to expand...

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is developing a next-generation retinal prosthesis system that will enable the Laboratory’s broader work on a system known as HARMONIE: the Hybrid Augmented Reality Multimodal Operation Neural Integration Environment.

Funding for the retinal system research, in the amount of $4 million, is provided by the Mann Fund, created by philanthropist Alfred E. Mann 15 years ago to support the development of biomedical technologies.

This work will be conducted in close collaboration with Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., a Sylmar, California-based company that develops, manufactures and markets implantable visual prosthetics for blind individuals.

APL will be developing next generation glasses with embedded vision and eye tracking sensors. Using these sensors and onboard hardware, the system will identify potential obstacles, doorways, hallways, and household objects and their relative positions.

Click to expand...

Volunteers on DARPA's Revolutionizing Prosthetics program test out early versions of the DEKA Arm System. One volunteer, who is missing both arms, even uses the advanced prosthesis to drink from a plastic water bottle, an especially difficult task for a prosthetic limb considering that water bottles are often slippery, easily deform, and contain moving contents.

Click to expand...

This realistic robot arm and hand was one of the coolest things we saw at the DARPA Robotics Challenge event--it's a technology that's already being field tested on patients. We chat with Michael McLoughlin, Chief Engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab to learn more about the challenges of building a modular prosthetic limb that has the same dexterity as a human hand, and its potential applications.

Click to expand...

Johnny Matheny is the first person to attach a mind-controlled prosthetic limb directly to his skeleton. After losing his arm to cancer in 2008, Johnny signed up for a number of experimental surgeries to prepare himself to use a DARPA-funded prosthetic prototype. The Modular Prosthetic Limb, developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, allows Johnny to regain almost complete range of motion through the Bluetooth-controlled arm.

Click to expand...

A pioneering surgical technique has allowed Johnny Matheny, an amputee, to attach the Modular Prosthetic Limb developed by APL directly to his residual limb, enabling a greater range of motion and comfort than previously possible.

Click to expand...

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a new surgical technique that allows an amputee, Johnny Matheny, to control a modular prosthetic limb with two Myo armbands.

Click to expand...

In the first episode of Humans+, Motherboard dives into the world of future prosthetics, and the people working on closing the gap between man and machine.

We follow Melissa Loomis, an amputee from Ohio, who had experimental nerve reversal surgery and is going to Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Lab to test out its latest Modular Prosthetic Limb, a cutting-edge bionic arm funded in part by DARPA. Neuro-interfacing machinery is a game changer in terms rehabilitating patients, but what possibilities do these advancements open for the future?

Click to expand...

After his arm was amputated, doctors outfit Johnny, a self-described “hillbilly” from West Virginia, with one of the world’s most advanced robotic arms. Johnny is able to control his new arm with his mind, giving him a level of motor control impossible until now.

Click to expand...