"The IMES devices, coupled with TMR procedures, promise to increase the fidelity of control and can be used in certain injury scenarios to provide a significant improvement on their own merit," Harshbarger notes. Further neural integration work includes fabrication of early devices to integrate directly with the peripheral nervous system and the cortex.

"APL and DARPA are united in the mission to improve technology and quality of life for our injured warfighters," Harshbarger continues. "There are a lot of people working very hard to accomplish DARPA's vision of a final limb system that approaches the natural appearance and control of the native limb. It remains a significant challenge, but the progress to date should give hope that the performance of the final RP 2009 limb will significantly improve the capabilities of upper extremity prosthetic limbs."


As the team prepares for further evaluations this summer, Proto 1 is already generating considerable interest from government agencies wanting to transition the prototype for use with other patients.

Key Members of Proto 1 Development Include:

* Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (program lead, system integration, design, and development)
* The University of New Brunswick, Canada (pattern recognition algorithms)
* Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (mechanical components designed by Richard Weir). RIC Media contact: Katie Lorenz, (312) 238-6019; Klorenz@ric.org.
* Otto Bock of Vienna Austria (design and fabrication of mechanical subsystems)
* Chicago PT and Northwestern University (development of the 'tactor' sensory feedback device
* University of Southern California (collaborative development of the virtual patient training and clinical interface system)
* Sigenics, Inc. and Northwestern University Prosthetics Research Laboratory (development of electronics for the IMES devices)
* Alfred Mann Foundation (ceramic encapsulated packaging for IMES)

Other organizations working toward the goals of the Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 Program can be found at http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2006/060209.asp.

The Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is a not for profit laboratory and division of The Johns Hopkins University. APL conducts research and development primarily for national security and for nondefense projects of national and global significance. APL is located midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., in Laurel, Md. For information, visit www.jhuapl.edu.

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