Watch The First Man On Earth To Control Two Artificial Arms With His Mind

Dhir Acharya - May 11, 2020

A man who lost both his arms in an electrical accident became the first in the world to control prosthetics with his mind, thanks to new technology.

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Researchers at the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University successfully tested bilateral prosthetics attached to an amputee’s shoulders, which allows the test subject to perform sophisticated tasks with both of his arms at the same time. The test showed that the system could learn quickly and could be a life-changer for shoulder-level amputees.

Most people have no problems holding a cup or pressing buttons, but that’s not the case for those like Leslie Baugh. About 40 years ago, he lost his arms due to an electrical accident, making it impossible for him to do hold a cup on his own. So, the aim of the research by Johns Hopkins University’s APL was to solve this problem.

Leslie Baugh became the test subject for a study to create mind-controlled prosthetics

For the tech to work, Mr. Baugh had to first undergo a treatment called targeted muscle reinnervation that reassigned nerves that used to control his arms. After the treatment, the research team isolated individual contracting muscles using pattern recognition software, studied how they communicated and the amplitude and frequency of the nerve impulses. Then, the information was translated into movements in the prostheses.

To let Baugh control the limbs, the team created a custom socket for the upper half of his body that was designed for supporting artificial limbs as well as allowing for the neurobiological connections with the reinnervated nerves.

He successfully controlled both the artificial arms with his mind

Baugh was also trained to use the prostheses through VIE (Virtual Integration Environment), which is a VR version of the team’s MPLs (Modular Prosthetic Limbs). When the prostheses and socket were fitted he could perform complex tasks like moving a cup from shelf to shelf of different heights with up to 8 separate motions to meet the goals. Baugh could even combine and control motions of both the arms at the same time.

At the time, prosthetist Courtney Moran said:

“We expected him to exceed performance compared to what he might achieve with conventional systems, but the speed with which he learned motions and the number of motions he was able to control in such a short period of time was far beyond expectation.”