Dean Kamen on The Colbert Report (April 5th, 2010)

[DonRotolo]

From an article I read somewhere recently (I think IEEE Spectrum magazine) the control system uses the wearer's actual nerve impulses for control.

Amputees generally have "phantom limb syndrome", where they can still "feel" their missing limb. Doctors find the nerve endings , connect to them electrically, and have the wearer move their "limb" - "bend at the elbow a little. Now a lot", and so on. They map the electrical impulses they get from the nerves to arm functions...and the wearer controls the arm with the same thoughts/impulses as they used to with their real limb.

Makes me want to get into biomedical engineering. The problems in human interfacing, noise management and amplification are fascinating, the arm mechanicals themselves notwithstanding.

I had one class in Biomedical - it was interesting, but a 3-credit undergrad elective barely scratched the surface (and, it was 30 years ago...). Wish I had the finances to change careers. (Maybe in my spare time in the basement?)