Thanks to a neural surgery and robotic technology, a man in Colorado named Les Baugh is the first person to gain the ability to control two shoulder-level robotic arms with his mind. The limbs and the technology that powers them were developed by Johns Hopkins University.
Watch a man control two robotic prosthetic arms with his mind
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"We use pattern recognition algorithms to identify individual muscles that are contracting, how well they communicate with each other, and their amplitude and frequency," said Albert Chi, a Johns Hopkins trauma surgeon, in a statement. "We take that information and translate that into actual movements within a prosthetic."
Baugh lost his arms 40 years ago in an electrical accident
Baugh lost his arms 40 years ago in an electrical accident, so the prosthetic limbs represent a big change. Now that the researchers know that the system works, the next step is to send him home to see how he integrates them into his everyday life.
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