Scientists develop robotic hand for people with quadriplegia

BERLIN — Scientists have developed a mind-controlled robotic hand that allows people with certain types of spinal injuries to perform everyday tasks such as using a fork or drinking from a cup.

By wearing a cap that measures electric brain activity and eye movement the users were able to send signals to a tablet computer that controlled the glove-like device attached to their hand.

“The participants, who had previously expressed difficulty in performing everyday tasks without assistance, rated the system as reliable and practical, and did not indicate any discomfort during or after use,” the researchers said.

According to Surjo Soekadar, a neuroscientist at the University Hospital Tuebingen in Germany and lead author of the study, participants represented typical people with high spinal cord injuries, meaning they were able to move their shoulders but not their fingers.

Jan Schwab, an expert on spinal cord injury at Berlin’s Charite hospital who wasn’t involved in the research, called it an interesting pilot study that needs to be followed up with further clinical tests.