DARPA Tests ‘Strap-and-Go’ Prosthesis

Researchers at DEKA Research and Development Corp., Manchester, New Hampshire, have developed what is being called a "strap-and-go-arm" that users can activate with the flick of a switch, according to an American Forces Press Service article by Donna Miles.

"All you have to do is strap it on, and you're ready to go. It requires no surgery or any of that stuff. All you do is literally wake up in the morning and put it on like you could a jacket, and you just go," Army Col. Geoff Ling, MD, PhD, manager of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Revolutionizing Prosthetics programs, told Miles.

Three volunteers in the test program reported strong acceptance for the device that comes in three models: one for amputees who have lost a complete arm and others for those with amputations above and below the elbow. "These arms are working just beyond anyone's wildest imagination," Ling said.

Embedded electronics enable users to flip a switch, either with a foot or their chin, to activate the prosthesis. By flicking the switch, users can cycle through five different gripping actions to match the task at hand, whether it's using a pen, picking up a key, lifting a coffee cup, or using a power drill. "It's very easy to master," Ling said. "Guys who have it will tell you they can master the use of the arm in an hour or two."

All were able to "perform remarkably" with the device, according to Ling. One tester who lost his arm at the shoulder was able to field strip and reassemble an M-16 rifle using the prosthesis. An above-the-elbow amputee was able to grab a root beer bottle offa shelf, open it with a bottle opener, and drink it. Another, who lost both hands in combat, reported he now feels able to take on a civilian job. "When you watch it, you realize that what we have provided is not so much an arm, but really a functionality and a return to life," Ling said. "This is exactly what we had hoped for. It's tremendously gratifying."

DARPA's initial prosthetics program, Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2007, "has done remarkably well" and is generating excitement among other federal agency heads that could someday lead to full-scale production, Ling said. As this effort advances, DARPA is pushing forward its even more ambitious Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 program that will enable a user to control the prosthesis through thought. The limb, as envisioned, would enable users to move as they normally do, without having to think about the actual process to make it happen.

For more information, read "DARPA Revolutionizes Prosthethics: How and Why," www.oandp.com/edge/issues/articles/2007-11_01.asp)