“The 55 Million Dollar Man”

Decades ago Lee Majors graced the screen as “The Six Million Dollar Man” and has been remembered ever since as the man that was rebuilt into a superhuman. Well, that may not be a far off possibility with today’s technology.

DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) has given $55 million dollars to a project that would produce a bionic arm that would “feel” like a real arm. The arm is designed react to nerve impulses from the brain using a “peripheral nerve interface”. The device would be implanted in the limb and a small computer would be worn on the belt and with wireless technology impulses would be passed to the limb creating a “real-life” movement.

“The new arm will take the signals that go to all the different arm muscles at once, and all the person has to do is think about natural movement and the arm will respond in a natural way,” Greg Clark of the University of Utah said. “We’re basically listening in on what the nervous system would be telling the natural arm, and translating that into signals that will move the artificial arm in the same way.”

The design of the arm was initially intended for military personnel that have lost limbs during battle but will become extremely beneficial to the rest of the population as well.

Decades ago Lee Majors graced the screen as “The Six Million Dollar Man” and has been remembered ever since as the man that was rebuilt into a superhuman. Well, that may not be a far off possibility with today’s technology.

DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) has given $55 million dollars to a project that would produce a bionic arm that would “feel” like a real arm. The arm is designed react to nerve impulses from the brain using a “peripheral nerve interface”. The device would be implanted in the limb and a small computer would be worn on the belt and with wireless technology impulses would be passed to the limb creating a “real-life” movement.

“The new arm will take the signals that go to all the different arm muscles at once, and all the person has to do is think about natural movement and the arm will respond in a natural way,” Greg Clark of the University of Utah said. “We’re basically listening in on what the nervous system would be telling the natural arm, and translating that into signals that will move the artificial arm in the same way.”

The design of the arm was initially intended for military personnel that have lost limbs during battle but will become extremely beneficial to the rest of the population as well.