DARPA's Brain-Controlled Robotic Arm Fast-Tracked, Could Be Available in Just Four Years
Usually when we report on DARPA's robotic, brain-controlled prosthetic arm, we're reporting on news from the lab. Soon we'll be reporting from clinical trials. On Tuesday the Food and Drug Administration said it would fast-track the DARPA device, pushing it through the approval process with priority assistance in order to get it to amputees-many of which are returning from combat zones-as soon as four years from now. There are really two headlines here; first, the DARPA arm is a modern marvel that's taken several years, $100 million, and some of the best minds in prosthetics design, robotics, and brain-machine interfaces to develop. It marks a technological leap-a prosthetic arm that is robotically controlled via a chip in the brain, making it more like a real limb than any approved prosthesis before it. Related ArticlesDARPA Seeks Prosthetics Directly Controllable Through Brain ImplantsDARPA Funds Neurophotonics Center to Develop Fiber-Optic Link Between Brain and ProstheticsVideo:...