Amputee Controls Two Prosthetic Limbs With His Thoughts
Les Baugh lost both of his arms at the shoulder level to an electrical accident 40 years ago. It’s a long time to adjust to life without them, to forget them. But it’s all coming back to him now thanks to new research at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), where Baugh has shown he can use his mind to control high-tech Modular Prosthetic Limbs (MPLs) and complete everyday tasks. Baugh underwent a surgery called targeted muscle reinnervation to prepare his body to use the limbs. “It’s a relatively new surgical procedure that reassigns nerves that once controlled the arm and the hand,” explained John Hopkins Trauma Surgeon Albert Chi, M.D. “By reassigning existing nerves, we can make it possible for people who have had upper-arm amputations to control their prosthetic devices by merely thinking about the action they want to perform.” The arms are attached to Baugh’s torso and shoulder through a custom socket that also makes a connection to the reinnervated nerves. An algorithm identifies Baugh’s muscle