Bionic woman.Claudia Mitchell Claudia Mitchell is the first woman to be outfitted with a bionic arm, making her one of the first non-fictional cyborgs. She was outfitted with the bionic arm to replace the arm she lost in a motorcycle accident. lost her left arm in a motorcycle motorcycle, motor vehicle whose design is based on the bicycle. The German inventor Gottlieb Daimler is generally credited with building the first practical motorcycle in 1885. The motorcycle did not become dependable and popular, however, until after 1900. accident in 2004. Now she has a new "bionic A machine that is patterned after principles found in humans or nature; for example, robots. It also refers to artificial devices implanted into humans replacing or extending normal human functions. See biomimicry. " arm that she can control with her thoughts. Mitchell's high-tech prosthetic pros·thet·ic adj. 1. Serving as or relating to a prosthesis. 2. Of or relating to prosthetics. prosthetic serving as a substitute; pertaining to prostheses or to prosthetics. moves in response to brain signals. So when Mitchell thinks "close hand," the prosthetic automatically forms a fist. Before attaching Mitchell's robotic arm A robotic arm is a robot manipulator, usually programmable, with similar functions to a human arm. The links of such a manipulator are connected by joints allowing either rotational motion (such as in an articulated robot) or translational (linear) displacement. , doctors rerouted nerves that had once carried signals from her brain to her left arm. The doctors attached these nerves to her left chest muscle. Now, when Mitchell thinks about closing her left hand, her brain sends instructions through the rerouted nerves. That causes her chest muscle to move. Sensors in the prosthetic device detect the movement, and direct her robotic ro·bot·ic adj. Relating to, characteristic of, or employing robots. hand to close. To precisely control the movement, Mitchell's robotic arm has six separate motors--twice as many as most prosthetic arms. "I am able to do things I couldn't do [with my previous prosthetic arm]," says Mitchell. MIND-CONTROLLED BIONIC ARM STEP 1: Doctors located nerves that were once connected to Mitchell's left arm. STEP 2: During surgery, doctors moved the nerves and attached them to her chest muscle. STEP 3: When Mitchell thinks, "bend elbow" or "close hand," a brain signal travels along a nerve to her chest. That causes her chest muscle to move. STEP 4: Sensors on the bionic arm detect movement in her chest muscle. A computer chip receives a signal from the sensors and bends the bionic arm's elbow or hand joint. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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