Devendra Kumar
Tonney, a 54-year-old man from Sweden, lost his left arm in a work accident. However, thanks to a groundbreaking technology developed by researchers at the Centre for Bionics and Pain Research in Sweden, he is now able to control each finger of his bionic hand with his mind. This innovation is significant because it marks the first time a person with an above-the-elbow amputation has been able to control each and every finger of a bionic hand.
To achieve this, Tonney underwent surgical modifications in his residual limb to allow his arm muscles to manipulate the prosthetic hand. Researchers, led by Professor Max Ortiz Catalan, used electrode sensors and a titanium bone implant to connect Tonney’s arm to the prosthetic. The team reconfigured Tonney’s remaining nerves to new targets in his existing muscles to amplify the signals, which were then translated into movement by machine learning algorithms.
The titanium implant is designed to be comfortable and strongly anchored to the residual bone, unlike traditional limb attachments that can cause discomfort and be mechanically unstable. Tonney has been using his bionic arm in his daily life for over three years, and the researchers aim to improve the control of the bionic hand, including providing sensory feedback to complement and potentially improve the control.
Professor Ortiz Catalan said, “We combined surgical and engineering approaches to solve this problem. We basically re-distributed the motor neural signals to different types of muscle targets, all acting as biological amplifiers.” The team’s work has been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine and demonstrates the potential for this technology to have a significant impact on the lives of individuals with upper-limb amputations.