Amputee Makes History by Controlling Two Prosthetic Limbs with His Thoughts (VIDEO)

A Colorado man made history this summer. Les Baugh, who lost both of his arms in an electrical accident 40 years ago, was fitted with prosthetic limbs that he can operate by thought alone.

The limbs, which are two of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physical Laboratory's Modular Prosthetic Limbs (MPL), are some of the most advanced to date. These limbs were developed over the past decade as part of the Revolutionizing Prosthetics Program. Before Baugh was fitted with the new prosthetics, though, he had to undergo a surgery known as targeted muscle reinnervation.

"It's a relatively new surgical procedure that reassigns nerves that once controlled the arm and the hand," said Albert Chi, trauma surgeon, in a news release. "By reassigning existing nerves, we can make it possible for people who have had upper-arm amputations to control their prosthetic devices by merely thinking about the action they want to perform."

After Baugh recovered from the surgery, he trained to use the MPLs. He was then fitted for a custom socket for his torso and shoulders than supports the prosthetic limbs and also makes the neurological connections with the reinnervated nerves.

Once Baugh was fully fitted, he tested out his new prosthetic limbs. He was able to move several objects from a counter-shelf height to a higher shelf, something that required him to coordinate the control of eight separate motions to complete.

"We expected him to exceed performance compared to what he might achieve with conventional systems, but the speed with which he learned motions and the number of motions he was able to control in such a short period of time was far beyond expectation," said Courtney Moran, a prosthetist working with Baugh. "What really was amazing, and was another major milestone with MPL control, was his ability to control a combination of motions across both arms at the same time. This was a first for simultaneous bimanual control."

The new prosthetic limbs could mean a new way for amputees to navigate their world. The next step is to send Baugh home with a pair of limb systems so that he can see how they integrate with his everyday life.

Want to see Baugh using his limbs? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.

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