Quadriplegic Moves Robotic Arm With Mind
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Tim Hemmes always pushed himself to stay active.
He played hockey, loved being outdoors and loved riding his motorcycle.
However, it was a motorcycle accident on July 11, 2004 that left him a quadriplegic.
"And a deer jumped out in front of me – I was doing about 20 miles an hour," he said. "I had a helmet on and that's basically what saved my life."
He survived, but the life he knew was gone.
"Tim is a quadriplegic so he has no motion from the neck down," Dr. Elizabeth Tyler-Kabara, of Pitt's school of medicine, said.
He wanted a way to connect to his family – his daughter, his mother, and girlfriend.
He took part in an experimental program at the University of Pittsburgh testing whether brain signals could move a robotic arm. Up until now, robotic arms have needed muscle contraction to work and Tim did not have any muscle movement.
At first it seemed it wasn't going to work. Then, Tim surprised his doctors by reaching out and giving them a high five.
"While the first reach was sort of the scientific triumph, the second reach had this emotional component to it," Dr. Tyler-Kabara said.
"It was something hydraulic and plastic and metal, but I put it there," Hemmes said.
Today, Tim still depends on his loved ones for his basic needs, but believes this was an important first step. And he is the first man in the world to control a bionic arm with his mind.
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