WASHINGTON: A bionic prosthetic arm that is controlled by its operator's thoughts and feels like the amputee's lost limb went on display Thursday at a major US science conference. More than 50 amputees worldwide, many of them military veterans whose limbs were lost in combat, have received such devices since they were first developed by US doctor Todd Kuiken in 2002. The arm uses technology called Targeted Muscle Reinervation (TMR), which works by rerouting brain signals from nerves that were severed in the injury to muscles that are working and intact. A series of other efforts to test and improve on these mind-reading robotics, known as brain-computer interfaces, were also showcased at the conference. Among them, how researchers can now place computer chips on the surface of the brain to interpret neural activity, potentially allowing spinal cord injury patients to control a range of devices from computer games to prosthetics.
