Double amputee fitted with prosthetic hands that are controlled by iOS app

Touch Bionics has designed a pair of highly-advanced prosthetic hands for a double amputee. What makes the technology so impressive is the range of grips the user can choose from — 24 in total, all of which are controlled via an iOS app. 

New prosthetic hands designed by Touch Bionics allow users to control level of grip via iOS apps. (Image via: medgadget.com)

The user, 34-year-old Jason Koger, lost both hands in 2008 when he came in contact with downed power lines while riding a four-wheeler on his grandfather’s farm. The accidental contact sent 7,200 volts of electricity pulsing through his body.

Since the incident, Koger has gone through a bunch of conventional prosthetic hands to help him get through each day. The newest pair he’s been outfitted with, referred to as the i-Limb Ultra revolution, is by far the most technically advanced. Each finger contains individual motors and so can move independent from the others, and both thumbs can rotate too.

With such expanded dexterity, Koger can choose from 24 different types of grips, plus he can customize the hands’ grip for on-demand situations and even save a group of favorite grips, too, for clasps he uses more often than others.

To choose the different grip types, Koger needs only to use his iPhone 5 or iPad. Both hands are outfitted with a special “skin” layer that allows them to interact with both devices’ capacitive display and scroll through the menu to choose the grip he needs.

Also worth noting — the prostheses feature auto-grasp technology so as to prevent accidental slippage when holding things like, say, a glass of water or an egg.

A report on this story was presented on CNN, during which Koger spoke about the technology, telling host Dr. Sanjay Gupta, “It gives me the ability to do more things that I want to do,” adding, “. . . it's definitely interesting how you can do the small things instead of asking somebody else to do it for me.”

There was one thing, though, that Koger was especially happy to be able to do with his new hands. “For the first time in five years I can hold my daughter’s hand,” he said. “I can’t tell you what a gift that feels like.”

Full CNN report on Koger’s story and the technology below:

Story via: cnn.com