NASHVILLE, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have developed a mechanical arm powered by a miniature rocket motor that is the closest thing yet to a bionic arm.
Vanderbilt University researchers created the prototype device as part of a $30 million federal program to advance prosthetic device technology.
"Our design … is closer in terms of function and power to a human arm than any previous prosthetic device that is self-powered and weighs about the same as a natural arm," said Professor Michael Goldfarb, who led the research. The prototype can lift about 20 to 25 pounds -- three to four times more than current commercial arms -- and can do so three to four times faster.
The Vanderbilt arm is believed the most unconventional of three prosthetic arms under development. The other two are being designed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The federal program is also supporting teams of neuroscientists at the University of Utah, the California Institute of Technology and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago who are developing advanced methods for controlling the arms by connecting them to nerves in the users' bodies or brains.
