A helping hand: Three men are first to get bionic hands after amputation

Three men have become the first patients in the world to have hands replaced by bionic versions controlled by their mind. All had suffered nerve damage from accidental climbing and motorcycle injuries that left them with little control over their “real” hands and in pain. The Austrian trio underwent a new technique called “bionic reconstruction” that involved amputating the hand and substituting it with an advanced robotic prosthesis.

If I saw these kinds of patients five to seven years ago, I would have just shrugged my shoulders and said, ‘there’s nothing I can do for you’.

Dr. Oskar Aszmann of the Medical University of Vienna

Three months later, all three have for the first time since their accidents been able to accomplish everyday tasks such as picking up a ball, pouring water from a jug, using a key, cutting food with a knife, and undoing buttons. They are also said to be in less pain. The bionic hand responds to “thought-controlled” electrical impulses from attached muscles. Professor Simon Kay, who carried out the UK’s first hand transplant, and plastic surgeon Daniel Wilks from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, wrote: “The present findings - and others - are encouraging, because this approach provides additional neural inputs into prosthetic systems that otherwise would not exist.”

Science Bionic