PopSci's Best of What's New 2007

Personal Health
Touch Bionics i-LIMB Hand

THE FIRST FIVE-FINGER BIONIC GRIP

THE I-LIMB, designed by Scottish prosthetics engineer David Gow, is the first hand replacement to feature five independently powered fingers, allowing for dozens of different grip patterns that reflect the ways people use their hands in real life—like toting a briefcase or pulling the tab off a can. Electrodes on the skin of what remains of the user’s arm pick up muscle signals and use them to operate the hand’s robotic controls, so it grips, grabs, and bends exactly the way its owner expects it to. Approx. $18,000; touchbionics.com

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PROFILE
David Gow

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