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Article of the Week #4

%! 0ark $our confusion! '! 1how e+i ence of a close rea in* on the ,a*e! 7! Write a one3,a*e reflection in $our WN

Glen Lehman, who lost is arm in combat in Iraq, emonstrates a bionic limb! "nn!com #ebruar$

%&th, '(%% )ionic arm *i+es ho,e for am,utees

An am,utation takes awa$ bone an muscle, but the connectin* ner+es that once controlle the arm are still there, an the$-re ca,able of sen in* comman s to the muscles an recei+in* sensation, e+en from a missin* ner+e! .he$ are, in a sense, like ata cables floatin* in s,ace! .his is the basis for technolo*$ e+elo,e b$ Dr! .o /uiken, irector of the "enter for )ionic 0e icine an irector of Am,utee 1er+ices at .he 2ehabilitation Institute of "hica*o! His ,rosthetics make use of limb3controllin* ner+es that remain in am,utees to allow them to better control ,rosthetics 4ust b$ thinkin*! He ,resente his latest a +ancements .hurs a$ at the American Association for the A +ancement of 1cience annual meetin* in Washin*ton, D!"! Glen Lehman, a retire ser*eant first class who suffere a battlefiel am,utation in Iraq, showcase /uiken-s ,rotot$,e! 5.he arm is ,rett$ much in tune with m$ thou*hts,5 Lehman sai at the conference! Here-s how it works6 /uiken-s *rou, ,ut the ner+es once use in motor control of the missin* limb on to s,are muscles, usuall$, the ,ectoralis muscles of the chest! In a technique calle 5tar*ete muscle reinner+ation,5 the scientists cut out the ner+es in the chest muscle an im,lante in their ,lace the main ner+es that ha controlle the now3 missin* arm! .he arms ner+es then be*an to *row within chest muscle! 5If $ou think -han closin*,- it *oes to $our brain, own $our s,inal cor , throu*h the han 3closin* ner+e, an that makes a little ,iece of $our chest muscle contract,5 he tol "NN before the ,resentation!

.he small contraction of the chest muscle sen s an electrical si*nal ,icke u, b$ tin$ antennae im,lante on the chest muscle, which in turn broa cast the messa*e to a recei+er in the ,rosthetic, tellin* the han to close! It works the same with han o,enin* an mo+in* the elbow u, an own, with other ner+es! .he sur*er$ itself takes onl$ a cou,le of hours, an can be an out,atient ,roce ure! )ut it can take three months before the ,atient e8,eriences the first twitches, an si8 months before the ner+es reinner+ate the muscle well enou*h to *et fitte with a s,ecial arm! .here are about 9( ,atients aroun the worl who are usin* this technolo*$ with con+entional ,rostheses 3 in other wor s, more ru imentar$ e+ices currentl$ a+ailable for use outsi e of the laborator$, /uiken sai ! .he$ are more ru imentar$ than the bionic arm that Lehman emonstrate ! "on+entional ,rostheses ha+e han s that onl$ o,en an close, elbows an wrist rotators: the$ on-t ha+e the abilit$ to use the elbow an the han at the same time, an can be confusin* to use, /uiken sai ! /uiken-s technolo*$ allows the ,atient to use the elbow an the han simultaneousl$, in a more intuiti+e wa$! .he research also ,oints to a ,otential mechanism for sensation fee back! #or instance, if there were sensors on the ,rosthetic han to etect how har the ,atient is squee;in* the han , that sensor$ information can be fe back u, throu*h the arm an ,ress on the corres,on in* skin <which is now on the chest= with a ,ro,ortional amount of force! .he e*ree of sensation isn-t as *oo as the human fin*er, but about as *oo as the chest skin not bein* use for this s$stem! >atients can feel normal hot an col , althou*h it feels like it-s in the missin* han , as well as ,ressure an +ibration! 1ometimes, thou*h, instea of ,ressure there-s a tin*lin* sensation! About si8 ,atients ha+e ha this sensor$ ,art of the sur*er$: it-s onl$ been one in the laborator$ an there-s currentl$ no wa$ to clinicall$ im,lement it, but that is an e+entual *oal! In recent $ears, /uiken an collea*ues ha+e been workin* on more nuance han mo+ements, an the$ ha+e been collaboratin* with the ?!1! Arm$ in hel,in* ,atients! .he scientists are comfortable tr$in* their technique on ,atients un er 9( who ha u,,er3 limb am,utations as much as fi+e or %( $ears a*o, /uiken sai ! .he$ belie+e that this coul also be a treatment for ,ainful ner+es, which on-t ha+e an$where to *o an form a tan*le ball calle a neuroma! .his ,roblem coul be sol+e b$ cuttin* a motor ner+e an lettin* it *row into a muscle, s,rea in* out the ner+e ,roblems, this coul sol+e the ,roblem! .heoreticall$, this coul also be one with le*s, an /uiken has 4ust starte some research in this area, but the i ea of motori;e le*s is much newer than motori;e arms, which ha+e been aroun for about 9( $ears! Also, more is at stake6 5If $ou fall own because $ou thou*ht wron*, that-s a ,roblem,5 he sai !