In today’s world of medical advancements and healthcare technology, some of the things we’re seeing emerge are literally the stuff of science fiction. Whether its a startup catering to healthy nutrition and fitness or a complete face transplant, the developments keep getting weirder and subsequently more advantageous for those in need of them. The most recent innovation is a prosthetic arm that gives amputees more access than they’ve ever had before.
Thirty years before New Hampshire-based R&D company DEKA received FDA approval for the sale and marketing of its aptly named DEKA Arm, it was founded by Dean Kamen, who’s widely known as the inventor of the Segway. The company specializes in research and development, locking down corporate clients as well as the likes of the Department of Defense and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Now equipped with some 400 engineers, researchers and support staff, Kamen and his constituents at DEKA realized the open opportunity to build a prosthesis with lifelike features, as it simply wasn’t being done.
BostInno spoke with Tom Doyon, DEKA project manager, about how the DEKA Arm came into fruition. Turns out, science fiction actually had a part to play in its conception. Or, at least in its naming.
“We called it the Luke Project, after the movie [Star Wars: Episode V] The Empire Strikes Back,” Doyon began. “The DEKA Arm was sponsored by DARPA, the research arm of The Pentagon and the Department of Defense. And it also funded by the U.S. Army Research office.”
As one could imagine from a military perspective, the DEKA Arm poses the most viable solutions for limb replacements to date. In fact, it was DARPA who encouraged Kamen to be the lead innovator on the project.
But what really sold DEKA was the fact that research and development for upper limb prosthetics wasn’t quite up to snuff with the rest of them. Lower limb prosthetics have been much more successful and widely sought after because the population seeking them is much higher while the tasks needed for them are not as complex.
As Doyon puts it quite bluntly, “It’s a state of the art upper limb limb prosthesis.”
What sets the DEKA Arm apart from similar upper limb prosthetics is the functionality, configurability and ease with which its utilized.
It features 10 power degrees of freedom, six different grips, and is modular for different levels of amputation. For example, it can be outfitted for people with different levels of amputation; no elbow, no shoulder, etc. Perhaps more impressively is that DEKA realized that the most extreme extent of flexibility and dexterity were necessary for the DEKA Arm to be successful. As Doyon notes, people can naturally control the movement of their pinky fingers but it’s not at all necessary for everyday functionality.
It works using EMG sensors, bump switches or house-made wireless sensors that, amongst other things, can be mounted on extremities that detect movement. If you place it on your foot and move your foot forward, so too will the prosthetic. But that’s not the only way it can be used. Depending on what the user feels comfortable doing, he or she can opt for a number of features from a suite of sensors.
Doyon describes it more eloquently.
“Think how a computer can accept a number of mice as inputs to control it,” he explains. “The arms is device that can accept a multitude of devices that make it work, like pull switches and bump switches. A prosthesis then uses a computer interface to program the arm, based on which sensors [the user] can use.”
According to DARPA, DEKA has been developing the DEKA Arm for almost eight years. Along the way, it’s learned a thing or two about prosthetics and the applicable uses for them.
Just last year, in the wake of the tragic Boston Marathon bombings, DEKA worked with on prosthesis shop that fitted many of those who lost their limbs when two pressure cooker bombs combusted on Boylston Street.
Now, with FDA approval, they’ll be able to aid those who have suffered similar fates. They’ll look to work with more local shops in order to make the DEKA Arm a reality for all amputees.
“This innovative prosthesis provides a new option for people with certain kinds of arm amputations,” said Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “The DEKA Arm System may allow some people to perform more complex tasks than they can with current prostheses in a way that more closely resembles the natural motion of the arm.”
When asked what the timeline would be for making DEKA Arms commercially available, Doyon wouldn’t comment. But, he did mention that given the recent approval to move forward by the FDA, they’re currently looking to lock down manufacturing and marketing help to better convey their product to the public.
