Mind Control Amputees Can Now Control Bionic Legs with Their Brain

By surgically planting tiny Implanted Myoelectric Sensors (IMES) in the residual tissues of patients, amputees now have the ability to control bionic limbs through their thoughts.

The technology was developed by Icelandic orthopaedic company Ossur and they planted the chip in the residual muscle tissue of two amputees.

Lead researcher of the project, Thorvaldur Ingvarsson said, "The brain power, when it takes over, it actually gives impulses through the brain into the muscles, then the muscles contract. We put sensors into the muscles, and the muscles would pick up the signals, and the signals move their way into the prosthetics, and then the prosthetics react as your brain wants."

One of the patients, Gummi Olafsson had lost his lower right leg in a childhood accident and the implants allowed him to control the movement of his prosthetic limb subconsciously.

Olafsson said, "As soon as I put my foot on, it took me about 10 minutes to get control of it. I could stand up and just walk away. Come back, sit down, use my muscles to move my foot in the position I wanted to use it. It was, like you couldn't believe the feeling when you were moving your ankle. It was really strange. I couldn't explain it. It was like, I was moving it with my muscles, there was nobody else doing it, the foot was not doing it, I was doing it, so it was really strange and overwhelming.

Olaffson has been using the IMES sensor and the Ossur bionic limb for over a year now. The company on the other hand plans to keep improving the technology through further trials.

Olaffson concludes, "Your muscles are always getting bigger, so you get Amputees Control Bionic Legs with Their Thoughts more control over it. So everyday if you are using it, you're always getting more and more control over what you're doing with your foot, so in a way, everyday you're learning more about how to walk properly with the foot, how to use it to go downhill, uphill, downstairs, upstairs, even sitting down and standing up from a chair."