The UK’s First Bionic Arm

The first UK citizen to have a bionic arm fitted is having the life changing surgery today in Austria. Corporal Andy Garthwaite, 24 lost his right arm in Afghanistan but will have a fully functioning arm in around 18months time. The arm will be operated via messages from his brain.

The bionic arm strapped across the chest and controlled by the brain

This is only the fifth nerve re-innervation surgery to have taken place in the world. The technology works as so..

The amputee will have their original nerves de-activated then re-innervated with remaining nerves from the ‘good’ part of the limb. The electrical potential of the muscle represents the motor commands to the missing limb and therefore act as a drive to the motorised prosthetic. It will provide the individual with a sense of the missing arm being touched.

It will take around 18 months for the corporal to gain full use of his new sophisticated arm, and will be able to control actions such as throwing a ball and moving his elbow and hand.

This is major breakthrough technology and seriously poses questions as to where medical advances are going to lie in the future with regards to brain activity controlling foreign objects. Not only this, but with biometrics! Although this is not directly linked to the security advances taking place within the industry today, it is interesting to think where we stand in combining the two. Will we ever have a biometric based on our mind activity? Perhaps a long shot but maybe a possibility.