Mind-controlled LUKE prosthetic arm is finally coming to market

Nearly two years after receiving Food and Drug Administration approval, DEKA's innovative prosthesis has a manufacturer and could start changing the lives of amputees in 2016.

Developed by inventor Dean Kamen (yes, the Segway guy) and DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the LUKE arm offers a level of dexterity and flexibility almost unheard of in prosthesis technology. Instead of power at only one joint or, perhaps a cable-based system, LUKE (named for the robotic hand Luke Skywalker receives at the end of The Empire Strikes Back) features motors at the shoulder, elbow and hand.

The result is a full arm or forearm prosthesis that can do things many others cannot. The LUKE Arm, for instance, lets wearers reach overhead, lift relatively heavy objects off the floor and handle delicate and more rugged objects with relative ease.

It also features a two-way communication system. Electrodes let the wearer control the LUKE Arm's movements with muscle movements and the device transmits grip feedback to the user through a grip-force sensor. That thought-to-action control has led many to dub the LUKE Arm a mind-controlled device.

“Working one-on-one with the amputees and learning what they liked and didn’t like about using prostheses proved invaluable to our product development process. Thanks to their insight and input, we have been able to construct the most advanced FDA-cleared design that the world of upper-limb prosthetics has seen to date,” Kamen said in a release.

While quite advanced, the LUKE Arm is not the only next-gen prosthesis technology on the horizon. In 2014, researchers in Sweden successfully attached a cutting-edge prosthesis to a subject's body via a technique known as osseointegration, which actually anchors the arm to the wearer's bone and creates a more direct interface between the amputee's muscles, nerves and the advance prosthetic arm.

There's also still no information on how much a LUKE Arm will cost, but it's a fair bet it will be in the tens of thousands of dollars. By contrast, a 3D-printed hand, which is nowhere near as sophisticated, can cost as little as $50. 

Whatever the final cost, the demand for LUKE Arm and other prosthesis is surely there. Every day, at least 500 people in the U.S. lose a limb, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Following the completion of clinical trials with over 100 amputees, the LUKE arm will actually be sold by DEKA's Mobius Bionics, LLC., and built by Universal Instruments Corporation.

“Working one-on-one with the amputees and learning what they liked and didn’t like about using prostheses proved invaluable to our product development process. Thanks to their insight and input, we have been able to construct the most advanced FDA-cleared design that the world of upper-limb prosthetics has seen to date,” Kamen said in a release.

While quite advanced, the LUKE Arm is not the only next-gen prosthesis technology on the horizon. In 2014, researchers in Sweden successfully attached a cutting-edge prosthesis to a subject's body via a technique known as osseointegration, which actually anchors the arm to the wearer's bone and creates a more direct interface between the amputee's muscles, nerves and the advance prosthetic arm.

There's also still no information on how much a LUKE Arm will cost, but it's a fair bet it will be in the tens of thousands of dollars. By contrast, a 3D-printed hand, which is nowhere near as sophisticated, can cost as little as $50. 

Whatever the final cost, the demand for LUKE Arm and other prosthesis is surely there. Every day, at least 500 people in the U.S. lose a limb, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.