2008 Woodie Awards
ISU receives $842,000 from DOD to develop 'smart' prosthetic hand
Courtesy of University Relations
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: News
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Engineers, a biomedical researcher, and a physical and occupational therapist at ISU are collaborating to develop a "smart" prosthetic hand that will use nerve signals to fully simulate natural grasping, lifting and twisting hand motions. They hope the artificial hand will also respond to sensory and visual feedback.
The United States Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC) of the Department of Defense (DoD) funded the first phase of this three-phase project this summer, providing an $842,000 grant to ISU for the proposal titled "Smart Prosthetic Hand Technology Phase I" under the project "Combat Casualty Research Program, Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Program - Biotechnology."
"The existing commercial technology for arm and hand amputees hasn't changed significantly in the past six decades," said Subbaram Naidu, Ph.D., ISU professor of Electrical Engineering. He is the grant's principal investigator (PI). "The Department of Defense is embarking on a research program to fund prosthetic research to revolutionize upper-body prosthetics and to develop artificial arms that will feel, look and perform like a real human arm guided by the central nervous system. We are taking a unique approach to helping achieve these goals."
The ISU program features a collaboration of researchers from the College of Engineering. They include Naidu, an electrical engineer; mechanical engineers Alba Perez, Ph.D., and Marco Schoen, Ph.D.; and civil/environmental engineer Solomon Leung, Ph.D. They're working with James Lai, Ph.D., in the College of Pharmacy, with input from Alex Urfer, Ph.D., chair of the physical and occupational program in the ISU Kasiska College of Health Professions. The first phase of the project, theoretical development, is scheduled to take 18 months, followed by the building and testing phases of the project.
On the engineering side of the project, much of the work will be completed in the ISU Measurement and Control Engineering Research Center (MCERC) located in the ISU Engineering Research Complex at 1030 South Second Avenue in Pocatello. Most of the biomedical research will be done in the ISU College of Pharmacy research laboratories.
The United States Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC) of the Department of Defense (DoD) funded the first phase of this three-phase project this summer, providing an $842,000 grant to ISU for the proposal titled "Smart Prosthetic Hand Technology Phase I" under the project "Combat Casualty Research Program, Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Program - Biotechnology."
"The existing commercial technology for arm and hand amputees hasn't changed significantly in the past six decades," said Subbaram Naidu, Ph.D., ISU professor of Electrical Engineering. He is the grant's principal investigator (PI). "The Department of Defense is embarking on a research program to fund prosthetic research to revolutionize upper-body prosthetics and to develop artificial arms that will feel, look and perform like a real human arm guided by the central nervous system. We are taking a unique approach to helping achieve these goals."
The ISU program features a collaboration of researchers from the College of Engineering. They include Naidu, an electrical engineer; mechanical engineers Alba Perez, Ph.D., and Marco Schoen, Ph.D.; and civil/environmental engineer Solomon Leung, Ph.D. They're working with James Lai, Ph.D., in the College of Pharmacy, with input from Alex Urfer, Ph.D., chair of the physical and occupational program in the ISU Kasiska College of Health Professions. The first phase of the project, theoretical development, is scheduled to take 18 months, followed by the building and testing phases of the project.
On the engineering side of the project, much of the work will be completed in the ISU Measurement and Control Engineering Research Center (MCERC) located in the ISU Engineering Research Complex at 1030 South Second Avenue in Pocatello. Most of the biomedical research will be done in the ISU College of Pharmacy research laboratories.
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