Prototype limb

An international team led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, MD, has developed a prototype of what they claim to be the first fully integrated prosthetic arm that can be controlled naturally and provide sensory feedback.

The arm also allows for eight degrees of freedom - a level of control far beyond the current state of the art for prosthetic limbs. Proto 1, developed for DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics Program, is a complete limb system that also includes a virtual environment used for patient training, clinical configuration, and to record limb movements and control signals during clinical investigations.

The DARPA prosthetics program is an ambitious effort to provide the most advanced medical and rehabilitative technologies for military personnel injured in the line of duty.

Over the last year, the APL-led Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP 2009) team has worked to develop a prosthetic arm that will restore significant function and sensory perception of the natural limb. Proto 1 and its virtual environment system were delivered to DARPA ahead of schedule, and Proto 1 was fitted for clinical evaluations conducted by team partners at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) in January and February.