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Bionic hand goes on the market
18/07/07 – A bionic hand invented by a Scottish NHS worker that is controlled by the patient's mind and muscles has gone on the market. The hand's thumb and fingers can grip like a regular human hand and has been tested on US soldiers who were injured in Iraq.NHS worker David Gow invented the hand and it is produced by the Livingston based company Touch Bionics.
Mr Gow, told the BBC: "It's the first hand to come to the market that's actually had bending fingers just like your own hand."
One of the first people to use the hand was Donald MacKillop from Kilmarnock a retired welder who as a result of an industrial accident lost his right hand 30 years ago.
He had the bionic hand fitted in 2006 and has been using it for the past few months and believes that it is the best he has ever had.
He highlighted the fingers on the hand as its best feature: "The most important thing is the movement of the fingers, that's what really makes the difference.
"If you gave someone this hand for a month and then gave them back their old device, they would be very disappointed."
It was tested at the National Centre Prosthetics at Strathclyde University and has also been put to use helping amputee war veterans.
Juan Arredondo, a solider who lost his hand in Iraq in 2004 is another recipient of the hand, he said: "Every day I have the hand, it surprises me. Now I can pick up a Styrofoam cup without crushing it. With my other hand, I would really have to concentrate on how much pressure I was putting on the cup."
Mr Gow now works at Astley Ainsley Hospital in Edinburgh has hopes for the hand to be available on the health service within two to five years.
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Published Date: 2007-07-18 12:10:00Subscribe to our RSS News feed:
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