No mater how you feel about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan one thing I think most people can agree on is the compassion they feel for the numerous solders that have lost limbs in those conflicts. At one time the loss of a limb was almost an automatic discharge from the military as disabled.Today with advances in materials, design and computer aided controls more solders are returning to active duty and even to combat zones.
Microprocessors have been used in prosthetic limbs since 1993 but with the increases in amputees from the war there has been a greater incentive for new technologies as well as an increase in funding both private and from government sources. The advances of this research benefit both the military and civilian market.
Dean Kamen , the inventor of the Segway, was approached in 2005 by the defense department to build a better prosthetic arm the result is the "Luke Arm" named for the prosthetic arm used by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
The Luke arm uses a computer chip to interpret signals directly from the users nerves to allow the amputee more fine motor control than ever before.This technology and others like make me believe the modern bionic man may not be to far in the future.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2009/10/27/930842/prosthetics-technology-keeps-soldiers.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_15355413
http://www.forceunleashed.org/2008/12/10/segway-inventor-makes-star-wars-inspired-prosthetic-arm-for-amputee-soldiers/
http://www.amputeeresource.org/High%20tech%20prostheses.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21901445/
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/24/business/fi-arm24
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