Man moves individual fingers on prothetic arm using only his thoughts

Important! Johns Hopkins alumni - the login process has changed to access your alumni email account, KnowledgeNET, giving.jhu.edu to make a gift, or events.jhu.edu to register for an event. Click here to learn more about our new security changes.

Physicians and biomedical engineers from Johns Hopkins report what they believe is the first successful effort to wiggle fingers individually and independently of one another using a mind-controlled artificial "arm" to control the movement.

The proof-of-concept feat, described recently in the Journal of Neural Engineering, represents a potential advance in technologies to restore refined hand function to those who have lost arms to injury or disease, the researchers say. According to the Amputee Coalition, more 100,000 people living in the U.S. have amputated hands or arms.