The Bionic Hand: Powered Prosthetic Devices Controlled by Sensors

Episode 022 • 41 min

This week we’re talking prosthetic design, specifically advancements that utilize sensors and robotics to improve the lives of individuals living with limb-loss and limb-difference. In early-2018, we unveiled a new exhibition called Bespoke Bodies: The Design & Craft of Prosthetics.

The traveling exhibition explores the relationship between craft, design, material, and the human body. Is there any design more impactful than the designs we connect directly to our bodies? One of our amazing partners in the effort to curate and develop the Bespoke Bodies exhibition was Mike Benning from Hanger Clinic. We speak with Mike, Marketing Manager at Hanger Clinic, and champion for the limb-loss and limb-difference community. Mike is also a prosthetic device user — he was the first American to be fitted with the i-limb quantum, an advanced bionic hand. And we have a special guest, the inventor of the i-limb, David Gow, who joins us from Scotland. David is the retired, former head of SMART Services at the UK’s National Health Service, who went on to found and run Touch Bionics, the company that productized the i-limb platform and brought it to market. This is the first time Mike and David have met, and it’s incredible to hear the gratitude Mike has for the work David did on the prosthetic hand. Plus, we all share our weekly dose of good design.

Weekly Dose of Good Design

• Sam: NASA’s Mars 2020 mission logo
• Liz: B-BOO LEASH by House Dogge
• Mike: You Can’t Stop Us | Nike

Links

• Program: Bespoke Bodies
• Product: i-Limb Quantum