New hope for military amputees

waltky · Feb 19, 2013

"Lt. Dan, you got new legs!" - Forrest Gump...

'Bionic legs' for military amputees
19 February 2013 - Injured military personnel who have legs amputated are to be given the most up-to-date prosthetic limbs after the government set aside £6.5m for them.

The micro-processor limbs, known as "bionic legs", will be available to service personnel who have been wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan and will offer them greater stability and mobility. The move is expected to benefit about 160 members of the armed forces. The Help for Heroes charity said the money would help "transform lives". Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said it was a top priority to give troops the best possible care and support.

Former soldier and Paralympian Derek Derenalagi with his "bionic leg"

Chancellor George Osborne, who is making the money available from the Treasury's special reserve, added: "Our troops are heroes who have and continue to give absolutely everything for their country and it is only right that we do everything possible to help them, especially when they suffer injury.

Walk backwards

"I am delighted, therefore, that we have been able to make funding available for this cutting-edge prosthetic technology, which will go a long way to improving the lives of people who have done so much for the UK." Experts say the "bionic legs" - the same as those used by Paralympics discus thrower and former soldier Derek Derenalagi - will significantly improve the quality of life and speed of rehabilitation for amputees.

Captain Nick Beighton: "I'm a typical soldier, we want the newest, shiniest things."

The new technology provides better stability and greater mobility, as well as improvements in the ability to step over obstacles, negotiate stairs and walk backwards safely. The limbs will be fitted where clinically appropriate at the Headley Court military rehabilitation centre in Surrey.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21497473
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waltky · May 5, 2013

Now there's an app for amputees to program their bionic hands...

App lets amputees program their own bionic hands
May 3,`13 -- Double-amputee Jason Koger used to fly hundreds of miles to visit a clinician when he wanted to adjust the grips on his bionic hands. Now, he's got an app.

Koger came to Philadelphia this week to demonstrate the i-limb ultra revolution, a prosthetic developed by the British firm Touch Bionics. Using a stylus and an iPhone, Koger can choose any of 24 grip patterns that best suit his needs. It's the latest evolution in equipment for Koger, a 34-year-old married father of three from Owensboro, Ky., who lost his hands in an all-terrain vehicle accident in 2008. "Five years ago, I couldn't pull my pants up by myself," said Koger. "Today, I go hunting and do some of the things that I probably never imagined I could have done five years ago."

The technology indicates how rapidly the field of prosthetics is changing, benefiting patients from injured military members to victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Practitioners say increased government research in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is driving some of the advances. In Koger's case, he was shocked by a downed power line. He went into a coma and had no idea until he woke up three days later that doctors had amputated both his limbs at mid-forearm. His wife spent those three days researching prosthetics, Koger said.

Since then, he's used a variety of prostheses, which he considers like tools - different extensions for different tasks. Electric hooks have allowed him to pursue his passion for hunting. Myoelectric hands, which react to electrical impulses generated by his remaining arm muscles, offer more precise movements. The previous version of Koger's myoelectric device required programming by a prosthetist, meaning Koger had to fly to Advanced Arm Dynamics in Dallas. The prosthetist would work with Koger to pick a few grip patterns - such as pinching, pointing or shaking hands - to program into the i-limb.

Yet sometimes Koger would get home and realize they weren't the ones he needed. Now, the latest i-limb comes with iPhone or iPad app that allows Koger to reprogram his hand with the touch of a stylus. On Thursday, he demonstrated by gripping an orange, a baseball and a can of soda. The i-limb allows fingers and thumbs move independently to conform around certain objects, said Ryan Spill, a prosthetist for Advanced Arm Dynamics' new office in Philadelphia, who is working with Koger. The thumb is also motorized, not passive, as in previous prostheses.

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waltky · Jan 6, 2017

Highly advanced battery-powered modular robotic limbs for military amputees...

Military Amputees May Soon Get 'LUKE' Bionic Arms
January 4, 2017 - A couple of U.S. military amputees may soon get a new type of bionic arm developed with funding from the Pentagon's research arm.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, recently delivered the first two LUKE arms to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., according to an announcement. The name stands for Life Under Kinetic Evolution, according to the release, but also pays homage to the Stars Wars character Luke Skywalker, who receives a robotic hand after losing his own in a lightsaber duel. Yet with its clear translucent plastic hand and silver arm, the LUKE limb looks more like those from the robots in the I, Robot film.

The Life Under Kinetic Evolution, or LUKE, arm is a highly advanced battery-powered modular robotic limb marketed by Mobius Bionics LLC.

In a presentation ceremony at Walter Reed, Justin Sanchez, director of DARPAs Biological Technologies Office, described the technology as the worlds most advanced prosthetic arm system, according to video of the ceremony. Its a remarkable device, he said. Dr. Jeffrey Bailey, an Army colonel and director of surgery at Walter Reed added, This is a very important day in delivering this type of technology to support the ability of folks who are injured serving their country to go back to doing what they want to do. A hospital spokesman said its not yet clear which service members or veterans will be the first recipients of the devices or when they might receive them.

The battery-powered prosthetic weighs about the same as a natural arm and features six types of grips that can be controlled by multiple inputs even wireless signals from sensors worn on a users feet, according to the DARPA release. The technology was developed by DEKA Integrated Solutions Corp., of Manchester, New Hampshire, through DARPAs Revolutionizing Prosthetics program and is being marketed by a company called Mobius Bionics LLC, of the same city. The system, which has already received approval from the Food and Drug Administration, is modular and comes in three configurations, depending on what part of the limb is missing: shoulder, humeral and radial.

Jay Burkholder, a spokesman for Mobius Bionics, didnt specify how much the technology costs, but said a few dozen have already been built and the manufacturing process is designed to scale. Parts of the devices are built in a facility in Rochester, New York, with final assembly in Manchester, he said during a telephone interview with Military.com. While the quantity already manufactured is fairly small, the supply chain is established to be able to support growing demand as commercial use increases, he said in a follow up email. We are looking forward to providing the most advanced prosthetic arm system to all upper-limb amputees, both military and civilian.

http://www.defensetech.org/2017/01/04/military-amputees-may-soon-get-luke-bionic-arms/
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Johnny Brady · Jan 6, 2017

Don's rooting for vets..

waltky · Mar 25, 2017

Double-Amputee Marine Vet becomes one of New York's Finest...

Double-Amputee Marine Vet Joins New York Police Department
24 Mar 2017 | The wounded warrior is now a cop — and he'll be walking the beat on titanium legs.

The wounded warrior is now a cop — and he'll be walking the beat on titanium legs. Matias Ferreira, a former U.S. Marine Corps lance corporal who lost his legs below the knee when he stepped on a hidden explosive in Afghanistan in 2011, is joining a suburban New York police department. The 28-year-old graduated Friday from the Suffolk County Police Academy on Long Island following 29 weeks of training. The 6-foot-1 (1.9-meter), 215-pound (98-kilogram) rookie passed all the physical training and other requirements just like any other recruit, including running a mile and a half in around 11 minutes. He begins patrols next week, a department spokesman said. "I just really want to be able to help people," said Ferreira, who immigrated to the U.S. from Uruguay as a child. "I want to be involved in the community, and the police department definitely allows you to do that."

Matias Ferreira, Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team, drives a pitch to left field against Hawaii celebrities, Jan. 11, 2013, at Central Oahu Regional Park, Waipahu, Hawaii.

Ferreira was on patrol in Afghanistan on Jan. 21, 2011, when he jumped off a roof in a compound suspected of being a Taliban outpost. "As soon as I landed I knew something was wrong because it was like a movie almost. I heard a noise and everything went black," he said. A bomb had gone off beneath his legs, amputating both below the knees. "I just saw blood throughout my pants." He was evacuated to a local hospital. Within days, he was back in the U.S. being treated for his injuries. Three months later he was wearing prosthetic legs. "I was up and walking in prosthetics and really just starting my new life," he said. That new life has included many activities he had never tried before the explosion. He has played on a softball team of wounded warriors. He skydives, scuba dives, snowboards and rides a motorcycle.

Raised in Georgia, he met his future wife, Tiffany, when his softball team played a game on Long Island in 2012. The couple now has a 2-year-old daughter. After working as a steamfitter, welding while hanging off bridges and overpasses, Ferreira decided to take the exam to become a police officer. He scored a perfect 100, and his fellow recruits later elected him class president. "He has served this great country with outstanding distinction, and will now serve and protect the residents of Suffolk County," Police Commissioner Timothy Sini said in a statement. Ferreira acknowledges the job will bring challenges, but approaches his new career with a sense of humor. He said he was once asked during academy training whether he has concerns about injuries. "If I break my leg, I go in the trunk and put on a different one and I keep on going," he said. He lives by the motto that "life without limbs is limitless." "The only disability we have is the ones that we make," he said.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/...ine-vet-joins-new-york-police-department.html
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New hope for military amputees

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