The Artificial Muscle-Operated (AMO) Arm created by Ryerson University biomedical engineering students Michal Prywata and Thiago Caires has a headset that picks up electrical signals from the brain. "When you think about a certain movement, the arm moves accordingly," Prywata told CBC's As it Happens Monday.
The arm can raise and lower at the shoulder and the elbow, rotate its wrist and close its fingers to grasp objects. It is manoeuvred with pneumatic pumps and valves and powered by a small, refillable canister of compressed air in the user's pocket. Tests show that it takes 10 or 15 minutes to learn to move the arm up and down and close the hand, Prywata said. However, the device has not yet been tested by any amputees.
They hope to sell it for around $20,000. They say other prosthetic arms capable of complex movements often sell for more than $80,000. Prywata said he and Caires envisioned something that didn't require surgery — a limb that would be as easy to purchase as a cellphone. "You lost your arm, you go online, you buy a prosthetic, it comes to your house in a box, you open up the box, you attach it, and you start training."
My Opinion :
First and foremost, this is a wonderful invention! This arm is truly amazing especially how it reacts on what you are thinking. I find it great that they are selling for a considerably lower price the the 80 000 dollar arm, which they are selling theirs at 20 000 dollars. One of the great features, is that is attachable and there is absolutely no surgery which is very important. The only downside is that it has not been tested on a prosthetic, so hopefully once it is, everything will go great and they will get this new invention on the market! Overall this is a wonderful idea, and I hope the very best.
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