Lords of Inner Filth

Aug. 28, 2012 at 7:20pm with 1,279 notes

Reblogged from alexdotexe

alex-android:

neurosciencestuff:

Britain’s first bionic veteran has a new brain-controlled robotic arm that is transforming his life.Andrew Garthwaite, 25, had his right arm blown clean off by a rocket-propelled grenade during a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan in September 2010. In January he had the state-of-the-art limb wired to his nervous system during a six-hour operation in Vienna, Austria.
Now he is getting to grips with his new body part and is able to ride his motorcycle and drive a car again. Mr Gathwaite, who lives with his new wife Kailey, also 25, in South Shields, Tyneside, said: ‘It’s been incredible. I thought I might never be the same. But my life is starting to get back to normal - I’m on my motorbike and I’m back in a car. I can do things that I never thought I would have been able to do’.

He said: ‘I thought I would get a new hand of a prosthetic arm.
‘But in Vienna they did surgery on the nerves and it’s changing my life. In the future they are talking about sensitivity so one day you could actually feel the arm.’
Mr Garthwaite, who was a corporal with the Queen’s Royal Lancers when he was injured, was previously fitted with a prosthetic limb, which he controlled by flexing his pectoral and back muscles.
But during the pioneering treatment in January, surgeons dissected his right shoulder to redirect nerve endings that previously controlled his arm and hand.
After isolating the nerves, they re-attached them to his chest muscle.
Brain signals are picked up by electrodes which trigger motors meaning his arm is controlled completely by his mind.
Mr Garthwaite still has a long road to recovery - experts predict it could take up to 18 months before he fully masters his new arm.
He added: “I’m still on the basics stage. I know I’m only going to get better.’

This is the sort of beautiful thing that makes me proud of medical science.

neurosciencestuff:

Britain’s first bionic veteran has a new brain-controlled robotic arm that is transforming his life.

Andrew Garthwaite, 25, had his right arm blown clean off by a rocket-propelled grenade during a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan in September 2010. In January he had the state-of-the-art limb wired to his nervous system during a six-hour operation in Vienna, Austria.

Now he is getting to grips with his new body part and is able to ride his motorcycle and drive a car again. Mr Gathwaite, who lives with his new wife Kailey, also 25, in South Shields, Tyneside, said:

‘It’s been incredible. I thought I might never be the same. But my life is starting to get back to normal - I’m on my motorbike and I’m back in a car. I can do things that I never thought I would have been able to do’.

He said: ‘I thought I would get a new hand of a prosthetic arm.

‘But in Vienna they did surgery on the nerves and it’s changing my life. In the future they are talking about sensitivity so one day you could actually feel the arm.’

Mr Garthwaite, who was a corporal with the Queen’s Royal Lancers when he was injured, was previously fitted with a prosthetic limb, which he controlled by flexing his pectoral and back muscles.

But during the pioneering treatment in January, surgeons dissected his right shoulder to redirect nerve endings that previously controlled his arm and hand.

After isolating the nerves, they re-attached them to his chest muscle.

Brain signals are picked up by electrodes which trigger motors meaning his arm is controlled completely by his mind.

Mr Garthwaite still has a long road to recovery - experts predict it could take up to 18 months before he fully masters his new arm.

He added: “I’m still on the basics stage. I know I’m only going to get better.’