by Mohamed Elawad
Touch Bionics has developed a new bionic prosthetic called the iLimb Ultra Revolution.
The limb comes with an app that allows the user to customize the type of grips to be made throughout the day. The iLimb features a rotating thumb which allows for a precision grip.
It aligns the thumb and index finger and has the ability to gradually increase the strength of grip on an object. The combination makes tasks like writing, tying shoelaces and picking up small items much easier.
The iPhone app created for the iLimb allows users to program and train the hand themselves, thereby relieving those who travel hundreds of miles to see their prosthetist to adjust their grip. The app gives users the ability choose which of the 24 grip patterns they want available. The ability to adjust the grip is another plus as changes in the environment, such as heat and humidity, can affect how strongly muscles (which are used to control the prosthetic limb) contract.
A recent report interviews Jason Koger who lost both of his arms up to his elbows after being shocked by a downed electrical line and Brian Waryck, Prosthesist and Clinical Manager, during a visit to Advanced Arm Dynamics in Cleveland, Ohio. Koger says he typically uses four different sets of grips in a day between home and work and also has a few sets of specialized grips for activities such as playing golf and working on the computer.
Waryck explains “the app lets you create a ‘favorites’ category, so if Jason has a number of grips that he likes to use at home, he can program them into his favorites and it will access them and automatically set them to his hand as he enters his home.”
Each limb has a price tag in the region of $100,000, which–in some cases–may be covered by insurance.
