Futuristic bionic arm: U.S. Army veterans Fred Downs and Artie McAuley (in the picture) both lost their left arms more than 40 years ago and are excited to be doing tasks again, thanks to their new LUKE prosthetic arms. LUKE is an acronym for Life Under Kinetic Evolution. Thin, clear rubber covers the metal and plastic fingers which bend and flex. Developed by Dean Kamen’s DEKA Integrated Solutions Corp. and manufactured by Mobius Bionics, with both companies based in Manchester, New Hampshire, the device is probably the most advanced arm prosthetic ever to be commercialised. Its development was sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The LUKE arm weighs about the same as the person’s original arm and features six pre-programmed user-selectable hand grips. It is configurable for different levels of amputation. The arm component permits moving multiple joints at the same time. Each motion is controlled by the person’s feet, which have tiny wireless transmitters sending signals to LUKE. The two men took part in a demonstration at a veterans hospital in New York. AFP TIMOTHY A. CLARY
