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iCandy: Bionics

Web-enabled electromechanical hands and specially tailored pet paws

Willie D. Jones
05 Jun 2013
Photo: Toby Melville/ Reuters
Photo: Toby Melville/ Reuters
Swiss social psychologist Bertolt Mayer takes a close look at his man-made doppelgänger in February at the Science Museum, in London. “Rex,” the bionic man modeled after Mayer, has fully functioning mechanical limbs, artificial organs, and fake blood flowing through its body. Mayer has good reason for his strong interest in replicating human organs: He was born without a left hand and has continually searched for prostheses that provide better functionality.
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Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters
This dog, named Naki’o, lost all four paws to frostbite when, as a pup, he was stuck in a frozen puddle inside an abandoned building. The veterinary assistant who later adopted him raised money to get him specially designed, biomechanically correct artificial limbs crafted by OrthoPets, a veterinary orthotic and prosthetic clinic in Denver.
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Photo: Matt Rourke/AP Photo
The Touch Bionics i-Limb Ultra Revolution hands worn by double amputee Jason Koger give him the ability to gradually increase the grip strength of each finger. This allows him to cradle an egg without breaking it or grab the handle of a heavy bag without worrying that it will slip from his grasp. The software-controlled prostheses offer a wide selection of automated grips and gestures. The user manipulates the limbs using the Biosim-i app on a mobile device. The Biosim settings and commands—including user-created gestures—are then sent to the hands via Bluetooth.
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Photo: Ho New/Reuters
Oscar the cat stands tall on prosthetic limbs that were surgically implanted after he lost his original hind legs in a run-in with a combine harvester. He was the first-ever recipient of implants called intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prostheses. Veterinary surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick, known as the Bionic Vet, attached metal rods with honeycomb structures to the bones at the amputation sites so that bone could grow into the rods’ pores. The result was permanent adhesion. Oscar’s plastic feet were then attached to the rods.
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Photo: Suma Aqualife Park/Reuters
If at first you don’t succeed at getting a badly injured turtle to swim again, keep trying newer and better artificial flippers until you find a set that works. That was the mantra of keepers at the Suma Aqualife Park in Kobe, Japan, after they rescued this loggerhead turtle, which had gotten the worst of an encounter with a shark. The set-up seen here is the 27th pair of replacement flippers to be fitted to the 25-year-old turtle.
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Photo: Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
Sixteen-year-old Patrick Kane shows off the sensitivity and dexterity of his new i-Limb Ultra Revolution prosthetic hand. Kane was the first person in the United Kingdom fitted with the software-controlled electromechanical hand, which is made by Touch Bionics. The Scottish company’s Biosim-i app lets Kane adjust the hand’s settings to take advantage of 24 grip options and a host of gestures—all from his iPhone.
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[clickimagelink_new]https://spectrum.ieee.org/slideshow/geek-life/tools-toys/icandy-bridges-beams-and-bots-in-bands[/clickimagelink_new]

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naki’oicandytools & toysgeek lifetype:slideshowjason kogeri-limbbertolt mayertouch bionicstools and toys
Willie D. Jones

Willie Jones is an associate editor at IEEE Spectrum. In addition to editing and planning daily coverage, he manages several of Spectrum's newsletters and contributes regularly to the monthly Big Picture section that appears in the print edition.

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