Mind-Controlled Prosthetic Limbs are Now a Reality in Daily Life (VIDEO)

Scientists have been testing robotic, prosthetic limbs that can be controlled by an amputee's mind for a while now. Now, though, these prostheses may have become a clinical reality. A new bone-anchored implant system are giving patients new opportunities with robotic limbs.

The new, direct skeletal attached is created by what is known as osseointegration, which is a technology in limb prosthesis. In this case, the patient was given a control system that's directly connected to his own. Because the patient works as a truck driver in northern Sweden, he faces challenges that range from clamping his trailer load and operating machinery to unpacking eggs and tying children's skates.

"Going beyond the lab to allow the patient to face real-world challenges if the main contribution of this work," said Max Ortiz Catalan, leading author of the publication, in a news release. "We have used osseointegration to create long-term stable fusion between man and machine, where we have integrated them at different levels. The artificial arm is directly attached to the skeleton, thus providing mechanical stability. Then the human's biological control system, that is nerves and muscles, is also interfaced to the machine's control system via neuromuscular electrodes. This creates an intimate union between the body and the machine; between biology and mechatronics."

The implant itself doesn't just allow the patient to control the limb through his thoughts, though. It's a bidirectional interface. This means that it can be used to send signals in the opposite direction, from the limb to the patient's brain. This means that in the future, researchers could potentially incorporate sensory feedback so that the patient can feel the sense of touch.

"Reliable communication between the prosthesis and the body has been the missing link for the clinical implementation of neural control and sensory feedback, and this is now in place," said Catalan. "So far we have shown that the patient has a long-term stable ability to perceive touch in different locations in the missing hand. Intuitive sensory feedback and control are crucial for interacting with the environment, for example to reliable hold an object despite disturbances or uncertainty. Today, no patient walks around with a prosthesis that provides such information, but we are working towards changing that in the very short term."

The findings are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Want to see the patient in action? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.