The Pros and Cons of the LifeHand Prosthetic Hand

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Recommended: Advancements in prosthetics

In the current world of rapid technology advancement, the progress in the research and development of prosthetic limbs is facing an upward trend as well. As the production of prostheses begin to pick up pace, a particular bionic arm secures the spotlight, returning hope to the lives of every amputee - the LifeHand 2. The fact is that, although many prostheses seek to replace the missing limbs of amputees by detecting muscle movements, they fail to address the issue of sensory feedback and this is what makes the LifeHand 2 special - besides providing the user with neural-controllability, it also restores the sense of touch to its user.

LifeHand 2 is the name given to a bionic arm that is still in development. It is the refined successor of LifeHand 1, a thought-controlled prosthetic hand which was unveiled in the year 2009. Like its predecessor, LifeHand 2 can act according to the wishes of the human mind, by transmitting and receiving neural impulses through implanted electrodes in the human’s arm. LifeHand 2, however, is programmed to present its user with an additional function of sensory feedback, while LifeHand 1 allowed only neural-controllability.

The LifeHand 2 project, which is still in process, is headed by Prof. Silvestro Micera and his team of Italian and Swiss researchers. Working together with him are Prof. Eugenio Guglielmelli who oversees the analytical and computational model development processes, Prof. Paolo Maria Rossini, Clinical Director of LifeHand 2, Prof. Maria Chiara Carrozza who is in charge of developing the prosthesis hand, Prof. Thomas Stieglitz who develops the electrodes, and their teams. The project is currently being developed in the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Biorobotics Institute, centered...

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...mary sources)

1. Universita Campus Bio-Medico Di Roma. LifeHand 2 – Official Video. [Youtube] 5th February 2014. Retrieved from

< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6T9tD7rQEA>

WEBSITE REFERENCES (Secondary sources)

1. NPR News Health Blog. Rob Stein. An Artificial Arm Gives One Man The Chance To Feel Again. [Online] 5th February 2014. Retrieved from

< http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/05/271948355/an-artificial-arm-gives-one-man-the-chance-to-feel-again>

2. Stuff Of Genius Blog. Christian Sager. Dismemberment Plan : Lifehand 2 Develops Sensational Prosthetic. [Online] 7th February 2014. Retrieved from

< http://www.geniusstuff.com//blog/dismemberment-plan-lifehand-2-develops-sensational-prosthetic/>

NEWSPAPER REFERENCES (Secondary sources)

1. The Stars Newspaper International News. Bionic Hand Allows Amputee to Feel Again. 6th February 2014.

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