Imported From Future | RAJAN

MIND CONTROLLED BIONIC ARM

 MIND CONTROLLED BIONIC ARM

A report

Submitted to

Prof. Prithwis Mukherjee

In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

Business Information Systems

On 07.11.2010

Rajan Kumar Singh

Roll No - B10020
Batch - 2010-2012
Praxis Business School

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When the blockbuster movie “The Terminator” released in 1984, the character played by Arnold
Schwarzenegger was a work of fiction. But in near future it could be a reality. Change has begun with
development of mind controlled bionic arm. An artificial arm will follow the commands of brain just like
a real arm.

This paper briefly discusses about the key players involved in different research programs going on
and its current status. It also takes up the future potential it holds which makes it so attractive that
players are ready to invest high capital in research.

INTRODUCTION

For decades scientists are trying to develop a brain – machine interface. After years of continuous
research, significant advancement has been made in this technology to the point that today mind
control over a bionic body part is no more a stuff of science fiction.

Every one of us imagines a life where we never fall sick or suffer any injury. But reality is different
from imagination and below figure gives an idea of it.

 Today approximately 1, 27,000 people suffer from paralysis due to spinal cord injury.

 In an instant, the earthquake that rattled Haiti on January12, 2010 created as many as 6,000
amputees.

 In the United States, there are approximately 1.7 million people living with limb loss. Between
1988 and 1996, there was an average of 133,735 hospital discharges for amputation per
year.

 50,000 of new amputations add every year in USA based on information from National Center
for Health Statistics.

 Ratio of upper limb to lower limb amputation is 1:4.

 Most common is partial hand amputation with loss of 1 or more fingers, which is
approximately 61,000.

 Next common is loss of one arm, which is approximately 25,000.

 In US 41,000 persons are registered who had an amputation of hand or complete arm.

 60% of arm amputations are between ages 21 and 64 years and 10% are under 21 years of
age

These facts are vital with the point of view that there is urgent need for development of prosthetic arm
which can move and feel like a real arm. Apart from being of significant help to the hand amputees, it
also provides a great potential for business due to its mass requirement. With increasing number of
terrorist act, wars, number of road accidents etc soldiers and even common man are at greater risk

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now to remain unaffected for injury. Due to unhealthy lifestyle, number of people suffering from
partially or fully paralysed patient is increasing at an alarming rate.

HOW MIND CONTROL REAL ARM?

Any action of our body part is controlled by brain. Any message is transmitted to the specific body part
and it acts accordingly. Brain can be considered as the central computer processor that controls all
the bodily functions. The task of transmitting information is done by nervous system. It can be
considered as a network that relays messages back and forth from the brain to different parts of the
body. It does this via the spinal cord, which runs from the brain down through the back and contains
threadlike nerves that branch out to every organ and body part. Say person accidently steps on a hot
metal. The nerves in the skin send a signal of pain to the brain. The brain replies, telling the muscle of
the leg to move away from that place. This communication takes very small time.

For body movement process, three components

which play a vital role are - brain, nervous
system and muscle. If any of these links breaks,
person becomes incapable of moving the body
part.

If brain does not work, no signal will be

generated to command the muscles. But if
exactly same signal can be generated by some
external device and fed to nervous system or
directly the body muscle, muscle will act
accordingly.

If nervous system does not work, signal

generated by brain will not be transferred to the
muscle and body part will not work. It by some
external medium these signal can be transferred
to muscle; body part will perform the directed
task.

If muscles / body part cells are dead, it will not be

pick up any signal send by brain. If an artificial
arm is capable of reading these signals and
make movements similar to a real hand, it could
be used for amputees.

Scientists are researching to come up with an

ultimate solution for any of the above last two
problems. Even few prototype of bionic arm has
been developed but still a long way to go before
they could be available to masses at affordable
price.

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The prosthetic arm which can work like a real arm will not only make the person capable of doing daily
tasks like eating, taking bath, writing etc but also give the person a sense of self dependence and
respect in the society.

Scientists have spent years in researching to find the most efficient and feasible technique to develop
the artificial arm. Technology has come a long way from a conventional prosthetic arm that offers very
little freedom of movement to bionic arm which promise a lot more. Continuous development is
required to make it functional enough to replicate all of real hand movements.

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Some of the prosthetics and the techniques of bionic arm discussed below are part of recent
explosion of new ideas and techniques being explored as scientists try to help people better

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compensate for missing limbs or paralysis. The drive is being fuelled by increasing amputations from
diabetes and military injuries and by advances in technology.

Myoelectric Dynamic Arm prostheses are an alternative to conventional static prostheses and have
a stronger pinch force, better grip, and are more flexible and easier to use.

Myo comes from the Greek word meaning muscle. Electric refers to how the prosthesis is powered.
An amputee uses their muscles to control movements of the prostheses that are powered by a battery
source inside the device. Myoelectric control is used to operate electric motor-driven hands & wrists.
Another advantage of myoelectric prosthetics is that they typically do not require any type of body
harnessing like conventional prosthetics. Pyoelectric prosthetics can be fit on many different
amputation levels but below elbow (BE) and above elbow (AE) are the most common. Technology
has recently advanced in prosthetics and some components (hands, wrists, and elbows) closely to
mimic human dynamic movement.

Luke Arm (named in homage to the prosthetic arm used by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars) makes fix
for the many of many of the problems that exist with outdated arms that are currently available. The
artificial arm is controlled by pads under the feet and attached to shoulders muscles. Users press on
these pads to get the limb to perform desired actions. This is a robust system that allows for a precise
level of control. It does not require any surgical access to anything inside the body such as nerves,
muscles, or neurons.

Modular Prosthetic Limb can provide 22 degrees of

motion, allows independent control of all five fingers,
and weighs the same as a natural human arm (about
nine pounds). Patients would control the MPL with a
surgically implanted microarray which records action
potentials directly from the motor cortex. When fully
developed, it will offer the first hard-wired neural
control of bionic body parts, whether lost to injury or
neurodegenerative disease.

If the MPL can deliver on its promise of a cleanly-

controlled prosthesis that is wired directly to the brain,
it will most likely become the gold standard of artificial
limbs. What remains to be seen is how well the brain
sensors can translate a patient’s intentions into
smooth, functional movements of the arm (and Reference: http://www.prlookup.com/darpa-
whether they can do better than muscle reinnervation). Scientists are working to improve the precision
launches-a-human-mind-controlled-artificial-
of neural recordings, as well as boost the maximum number of impulses that can be recorded per
arm.htm
second. Improving these spatial and temporal recordings will help to match the MPL’s movements to
the patient’s intentions.

A fully integrated artificial limb would mark a new milestone in bionic technology: wiring external
devices safely and directly into the nervous system. No more remotely controlled sensors, no more
muscular myosensors etc. instead, a direct line from thought to action, and sensory experience
restored to the brain.

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Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), a surgical technique, involves taking the nerves that remain
after an arm is amputated and connecting them to another muscle in the body, often in the chest.
Electrodes are placed over the chest muscles, acting as antennae. When the person wants to move
the arm, the nerves in the chest muscles receive electrical impulses from the brain and muscles act
like a booster, amplifying the signal. This signal is picked up by electrodes on the surface of the chest
and interpreted by a micro-computer that controls the arm.

The four key arm nerves N. medianus, N. radialis, N. ulnaris and N. musculocutaneus are
systematically relocated to the surgically segmented chest musculature. Additionally, the
subcutaneous tissue and fat between the skin and the target muscles was removed to allow the skin
to directly appose the muscle surface to provide clear EMG signal transmission for better prosthesis
control. Once reinnervation is complete (a process that can take several months depending on the
length of the regeneration segment), the surface of the chest (TMR region) forms an interface to the
human brain. Electric nerve impulses coming from this region can be sampled and processed by
surface electrodes as an EMG (electromyography). Powerful micro-controllers in the prosthesis
calculate the motor commands underlying the impulses in real time and generate the equivalent
control commands for the prosthesis. The mind-controlled prosthetic arm allows the user to complete
movements in the joints the way they were executed by the natural arm prior to amputation: Intuitively
and simultaneously. The process requires no more conscious effort than it would for a person who
has a natural arm.

As per Gerald Loeb, professor

of biomedical engineering at
the University of Southern
Californic, “TMR is an
important extension of the
original concept of
myoelectric control because it
enables users to operate
multiple degrees of freedom
in a way that is much more
natural and intuitive than has
been possible before”.

Reference: http://celebrifi.com/gossip/Austrian-driver-with-mindcontrolled-
bionic-arm-dies-after-crash-3804017.html
images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/10/21/1287677216802/New-thought-

This technology takes advantage of existing healthy nerves but just reassigns them to other muscles
and the activity in these is just converted into mechanical actions. Of course, it isn’t useful for people
who are completely paralysed, but the results are quite spectacular.

The prosthetic arm using TRM has been tested on an Austrian man named Christian Kandlbauer --
who didn’t have any arms and had a myoelectric Dynamic Arm on his right side -- for the past four
years. He became the first person in Europe to have a thought-controlled prosthesis installed. The
nerves were transplanted to the chest in a six-hour operation and enable the prosthetic control. It went
through testing of four years on Christian. Every night he had to detach and recharge his bionic arm
just like a cell phone. He was able to do many of his day today activity like dress himself and drive his
specially modified Subaru Impreza, which was adapted with special equipment, including a modified

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emergency brake and a button to operate functions such as the horn, indicator lights and windshield
wipers.

Unfortunately on 2 October, 2010 he died after the car he was driving veered off the road and crashed
into a tree. The bionic arm was ripped off in the crash, the Independent reported. Doctors were forced
to take off the other prosthesis during emergency surgery. The cause of the crash remains unclear.
Both Waltensdorfer, a senior physician at a hospital in the southern city of Graz and local police said
that it was impossible to tell whether the accident was caused by problems with Kandlbauer's
prosthetic arms. It is not yet clear if it was the prosthetic arms that caused the accident, such as failing
to respond or locking up, but the entire situation begs the question of whether or not the prosthesis is
ready to go to market.

ECONOMIC POTENTIAL

Last few years has seen drastic increase in the funds spent of research and development of a more
flexible and intelligent arm which can understand the language of brain waves and make moves
similar to a real arm. Some organization, institutes and agencies have planned to spend more than
$100 million. This sudden surge is seen as a result of huge economic opportunity available due to the
increasing number of amputee added to the world population every year. According to the National
Limb Loss Information Center, two years ago there were 1.7 million Americans living without a limb.
During a study from 1988 to 1996, the Center found that there was an average of 133,735 hospital
discharges after amputation and that overall the number of cases was increasing. Taking this statistic
into consideration, it can be estimated that the population of amputees today stands around 2 million.
With these current numbers, plus the predicted rise in amputees, the demand for these advanced
prosthetics is predicted to be astronomical.

Market of mind controlled arm provides a great opportunity to make monetary gain. But any game
which involves big money also involves high risk, so is the case here.

Below are the major risk factors in this business:

 Unable to recover huge investment on research and development of the technology

 Unable to create demand
 Risk of not being able to completely convey the benefit of the technology/product to
consumers and hence not able to convert need to sale of product.

Development of mind controlled arm calls for the continuous inflow of money in research and
development activity. Some government funded research activity is in progress to improve prosthetic
technology to treat veterans who have lost limbs in combat. Huge capital spent on research and
development would elongate the period before which companies involved in this business would start
making profit. But success of the research would make for all the investments made.

Generally, when the average civilian amputee looks to buy a prosthetic, they expect and rely on aid
from their health insurance company. According to Disabled-World.com, the current estimated an
upper extremity device (arm) can range from $3,000.00 to $30,000.As new prosthetics are developed
to utilize the mind-controlled technology, it is reasonable to expect that, at minimum, they will initially
have a price tag near this maximum range. One such prosthetic device was even reported to cost
around 6 million dollars. Obviously, with this enormous price tag, in addition to the sky-high medical

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expenses incurred from hospital visits, diagnostics, and doctor’s appointments, very few will be able to
afford it without support from insurance companies or other sources. For people who are not veterans,
high cost of the artificial arm would make it really difficult to even think of having it. The Luke Arm is
slated to cost more than $100,000, and a similar price is likely for the Modular Prosthetic Limb. That’s
well beyond the means of most amputees if they do not have the insurance coverage provided by the
Veteran’s Administration. The i-Limb, which is a myoelectric dynamic arm, is offered at a cheaper
price (near $18,000). Scientists believe that the price of the robotic arm will drop as it becomes more
widely used. However, Ernie Stables from the British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association
(Blesma) said that he expected that the technology would still be too expensive for widespread use.
Whichever may be the case, companies would face stiff challenge in creating a demand of their
product unless a drastic decrease in the price of these products is feasible.

Some organizations are planning to increase the demand of this technology/product by launching
campaigns to spread of awareness of about how their product is the right solution for the need of
amputee. The campaign will try to convey the benefits of assistive technologies for getting patients
‘back to where they once were', following the loss of a limb due to some accident or paralysis. Media
Safari director of healthcare PR Georgina Wright, who will head a similar campaign, and said: “We will
be communicating to the clinical, disability community and wider consumer audiences on how
advances in assistive solutions lead to greater mobility. This helps individuals to regain confidence
and improve the patient's overall well being.” In spite of all efforts, this campaign seems useless
unless price of the device decreases.

KEY PLAYERS

Other than private organizations, few government agencies are working to design a device closer to a
natural arm than any existing prosthetic device in its appearance, ability and connection to the body.
Here we discuss about some of those players.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is an agency of the United States
Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military.
DARPA has been responsible for funding the development of many technologies which have had a
major effect on the world, including computer networking, as well as NLS, which was both the first
hypertext system, and an important precursor to the contemporary ubiquitous graphical user interface.
It is independent from other more conventional military R&D and reports directly to senior Department
of Defense management. DARPA has around 240 personnel (about 140 technical) directly managing
a $3.2 billion budget. These figures are "on average" since DARPA focuses on short-term (two to
four-year) projects run by small, purpose-built teams. They often collaborates with (i.e. funds)
university research teams and companies whose expertise can speed research along.
DARPA’s approach is to imagine what capabilities a military commander might want in the future and
accelerate those capabilities into being through technology demonstrations. One such capability is to
provide the mental strength to soldiers to face the challenge of learning to live with a missing arm, in
case they become victim of any attack in which they lose their arm. To make this transition easier, the
DARPA, launched a $100 million that combines the efforts of prosthetics experts nationwide to create
a bionic arm controlled by thought. To develop neurally controlled prosthesis, they started two inter-
related programs: Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2007 and Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009. The project
is a collaborative effort with more than 30 organizations including labs, universities and private
companies. The Darpa program has created two kinds of prototypes. The first is a sophisticated

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prosthetic arm that can be controlled naturally, provide sensory feedback and allow for eight degrees
of freedom. The second, more ambitious, venture aims to offer natural movement and a range of
motion similar to a real arm

DEKA Research and Development Corp of Manchester, NH, owned and run by Segway inventor
Dean Kamen were awarded the $18.1 million Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2007. The result is the Luke
Arm, prosthesis with 18 degrees of freedom that can be controlled in several ways. Generally, the
prosthesis is hooked up to both pads under the feet (kind of like a remote joystick) as well as shoulder
sensors. The Luke Arm has also been wired into patients’ remaining chest nerves, using a technique
called targeted muscle reinnervation. It is an impressive leap forward for prosthetic technology,
offering precise movement as well as pressure control – plus it’s already in clinical trials.

Also contributing to the DEKA effort are researchers at Northwestern University, which houses its
prosthetics research in the RIC facilities. Also participating are Canadian researchers at the Institute
of Biomedical Engineering at the University of New Brunswick who helped develop the EMG pattern
recognition algorithms for Kuiken’s bionic arm and currently are developing sensors directly linked to
neurons. Another participant is Chicago PT, LLC, which develops robotic devices for physical therapy.
Richard Wier, a research scientist at VA Chicago Health Care System and a biomedical engineer at
Northwestern University’s Prosthetics Research Laboratory, is overseeing the design of the DEKA
prosthetic arm. Wier has investigated implanted BION-like myoelectric sensors for multiple degrees-
of-freedom prosthesis arm control and the use of fuzzy logic to interpret the EMG signals.

DEKA, founded in 1982 by inventor Dean Kamen, focuses on the development of new technologies
and innovative solutions. Its main success has been with medical products for companies such as
Johnson & Johnson, which contracted with DEKA to develop the Independence IBOT mobility system
for handicapped persons. IBOT uses some of the technology found in the Segway Human
Transporter, another Kamen invention. In 2004 DEKA received a small DARPA award to develop a
rapid mobility concept.

Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University were awarded the $30.4 million
Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 program was awarded to the. APL is primary national security and
government R&D contractor. Stuart D. Harshbarger is leading the APL effort. The Revolutionizing
Prosthetics 2009 program that is being managed by APL of Johns Hopkins University is divided into
two 24-month phases. Phase I addresses the extent to which efferent neural signals can be used to
control a robotic arm and hand, and the extent to which sensory (afferent) feedback can be provided
from the robotic device to the nervous system. At the end of Phase I, APL were supposed to
demonstrate a strategy that will integrate efferent and afferent capabilities to the extent that the user
of the prosthetic will be able to accomplish normal activities of daily living. In addition, the prosthetic
must be wearable for 18 hours a day without discomfort or skin pathology.

The final design – MPL – has 22 degrees of freedom, including the independent movement of each
finger, in a package that weighs about nine pounds (the weight of a natural branch.) Provide skills
almost more than one branch natural, MPL is capable of unprecedented flexibility and mechanics is
designed to meet the thought of a user.

In October, 2010 APL announced that so far it has been awarded $34.5 million contract with DARPA,
which will allow researchers to test the neural prosthesis in five individuals over the next two years.
While the research is primarily a joint venture between Johns Hopkins and DARPA, the project will tap

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multiple institutions for varying forms of expertise. The University of Pittsburgh (who have already
implanted monkeys with sensors to control robot arms) and CalTech will help with brain-computer
interface design. The University of Chicago will aid the project with restoring sensory input, which will
be an integral part of the MPL. The University of Utah will provide experience with the actual brain
sensors to be implanted, and HDT Engineered Technologies will bring their skill in prosthetic
technology to the project.

Otto Bock Healthcare, a German prosthetics company situated in Duderstadt, uses technology,
service and education to help people with mobility challenges. It offers products and services to help
people increase and retain their physical independence and is responsible for several innovations in
prosthetics. It was founded in 1919 by its namesake prosthetist, Otto Bock. Otto Bock HealthCare
opened its doors in the U.S. in 1958 and in Canada in 1978. Currently it is in its third generation as a
privately held company. With North American headquarters located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the
company has branches in 46 countries staffed by more than 3,900 employees.

This company has a long history of sponsoring Amputee Coalition programs and services. The
company has been a major sponsor of the Amputee Coalition of America National Conference for
many years, providing funding for educational sessions and social events .In April,2010 the Amputee
Coalition of America announced Otto Bock HealthCare, , as the organization’s inaugural national Gold
Sponsor for 2010. The Gold Sponsorship is a $30,000 contribution, the non-profit organization’s
highest level of national sponsorship.

It was created in response to the large number of injured veterans from World War I. Otto Bock first
presented a unique advancement in the medical technology field in Vienna at the end of 2007 and
Germany in 2008: The mind-controlled arm prosthesis. In May, 2010 it announced that its prototype
prosthetic arm which can be controlled by thought will be soon available in market. It is predicted to
cost several million euros, for now. Once the product goes into production and the surgery can be
perfected, the cost may decrease. Otto Bock is also working on a "high-tech index finger" for
Kandlbauer that can sense temperature, identify rough and smooth surfaces and feel the strength of a
handshake.

CHALLENGES

Any development is preceded and followed by challenge, so is the case here. The concept of mind
controlled bionic arm has some serious hurdles to overcome to make it a reality, and undoubtedly
more technical obstacles will present themselves and research work moves towards it final stages..
Some of the major hurdles have been discussed here.

Technical: The biggest problem with neural interfaces is their short lifespan. Over time, silicon chips
embedded in wet tissue begin to break down within the body, and need to be replaced within about
two years. Earlier this year, DARPA announced a program called Histology for Interface Stability over
Time; the goal is to pinpoint how and why neural implants fail, and ultimately to boost their lifespan to
70 years. Without more permanent neural arrays, patients would need to undergo replacement
surgery multiple times over their lifespan.

One of the next technical challenges in the field of brain machine interface prosthetics is making them
feel like normal limbs. A normal limb has a sense of touch and feel, the process by which sensory

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feedback to the brain transmits the location and position of the body's muscles, allowing the person to
be aware of the arm’s position without having to look. This is accomplished by an array of receptors in
the muscles and joints, as well as mechanical receptors in the skin, that enable us to know when we
are touching an object. The challenge would be to develop next generation of prosthetic arms having
proprioception and “feeling,” generating feedback pulses to the brain or to nerve endings that will
result in their bearers having an almost natural feel to their bionic limb.

Another challenge would be of developing a neurally-controlled prosthesis that matches the strength
and dexterity of a natural limb. DARPA clearly understands this hard challenge. According to Col.
Geoff Ling, DARPA’s manager of the programs “Breakthroughs in actuation, mechanical power
distribution, energy storage, biotic/abiotic interfaces, sensors, and computation will be required. But
the most important aspect is the ability to control the arm and hand by the intent of the user.” Apart
from flexibility, strength and weight of arm are the other factors to be considered before selection of
material to use for arm.

Some of the questions which are still unanswered are: What if arm gets wet? What should be the
length of arm (to make it feasible for mass production)? What should be weight of the arm?

Economical: As pointed out earlier an upper extremity device (arm), which is not brain controlled can
range from $3,000.00 to $30,000. A mind controlled prosthetic would cost more than $100,000. This
price would make this device out of the reach of mass of the amputees’ community. Bringing down the
price of device drastically is a major challenge encountered by scientists.

High price would lead to low demand of the product. This may adversely affect the research programs
funded by private companies, as companies would be hesitant to invest more in research and
development activity unless it bears some fruit in terms of monetary gain. Even now some of the
private players involved on research activity are working as contractors for projects funded by
government agencies.

It is expected that mass production of the device would bring down the cost to some extent. Still more
steps would be required to make the device available to people at affordable price. At present devices
are made up of titanium and carbon material which are costly. It calls for a need of alternate material,
which could replace titanium without affecting the quality of the device.

CONCLUSION

Undoubtedly anyone would prefer to use their natural limb compared to an artificial one. But it is a fact
that, research in the field of brain-computer interfaces has drastically increased the practicality and
feasibility of artificial limbs which could be controlled by brain just like a natural one. Humans do not
have the ability to re-grow their lost limbs, but through the advancement of brain-computer interfaces,
science has come close to it. The advancement in brain controlled artificial arm is the result of many

years of tedious and progressive research, and today science is closer than ever to creating a bionic
man. Many challenges still have yet to be solved--the most important one being the economic
feasibility of the devices in order for the disabled to lead normal lives. Research has shown, however,
that the cost of supporting the disabled far outreaches the cost of one neural prosthetic for the
individual. The challenges may seem daunting, but the reward is worth the effort. Further
advancement of this technology can lead to better, more productive lives for the disabled all around

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the world. The scope of brain-machine interfaces can also be spread to parts of the body other than
prosthetic limbs, such as eyes, skin, and sensory elements that would not be possible without the
development of these devices. Through years of research and development, the viability of brain-
machine interfaces has been proven time and time again. The most important aspect of this
technology is to replace the natural limb with an exact, fully-functioning replica in order to improve the
lives of the disabled.

THE WAY AHEAD

If the scientists continue to make progress, we hope that ten years from now, a brain-controlled
prosthetic will be possible of Luke Skywalker-style, with thirty-six-degrees-of-freedom hand and with a
range of motion like real arm. Going ahead scientists would like to develop bionic arms which would
prevent arm from performing any action which could not be justified like trying to commit suicide, kill
someone etc. Development of arms which is much more physically powerful than natural arm could
be helpful in performing tasks which require muscular power could be useful. There is a long way to
go before an arm with all these functionalities could be developed. These also raise questions like
would it be prudent decision to develop an arm powerful enough to pose a threat to life of others.
Many similar questions need to be answered in future as the technology advances in field of medical
science.

REFERENCES

1. http://hoco360.blogspot.com/2010/09/imported-from-future-apls-bionic-arm.htm
2. http://singularityhub.com/2010/08/03/mind-controlled-artificial-arm-begins-the-first-human-testing/

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3. http://www.prlookup.com/darpa-launches-a-human-mind-controlled-artificial-arm.htm
4. http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/bionic-arms-gallery/all/1
5. http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/12/mind-controlled-prosthetic-arm-moving-to-market-in-europe/
6. http://www.prweek.com/uk/news/1005426/Media-Safari-picks-innovative-mind-controlled-arm-brief/
7. http://www.techeye.net/science/man-with-mind-controlled-prosthetic-arm-dies-in-car-crash
8. http://www.ottobock.com/cps/rde/xchg/ob_com_en/hs.xsl/26942.html
9. http://electric-wheelchair-on.net/main/first-mind-controlled-bionic-arm-sucessfully-tested/
10. http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body_basics/brain_nervous_system.html
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E2%80%93computer_interface
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA
13. http://www.ottobock.in/
14. http://www.disabled-world.com/

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