Touch Bionics I-Limb Ultra: Boy uses Smartphone App to adjust Prosthetic Hand

A teenager who lost his hand to meningitis has become the first in Britain to be fitted with a revolutionary bionic replacement - operated using an iPhone.

Patrick Kane, 16, can now control his state-of-the-art left hand using a mobile application on his iPhone 5 which gives him 24 different pre-set grips.

He can create favourite grips and configure the settings on his arm for different situations, like sport or using a keyboard.

The thumb on the next generation prosthesis now rotates automatically instead of Patrick having to move it manually with his other hand.

Today Patrick - dubbed the bionic boy - showed off his brand new i-limb ultra revolution at the headquarters of Touch Bionics in Livingston, West Lothian.

He said: “It makes a big difference. It has got a mobile phone app which means it can go into 24 different pre-set patterns.

“I can operate it using my iPhone 5. There’s nothing it can’t do.”

Experts at Touch Bionics lead the field in the use of intelligent prosthetics, and Patrick, from London, is the first in the UK to benefit from the latest technology.

At 13, he had already become the youngest amputee in the world to be fitted with one of the company’s pioneering prosthetics when he received an earlier model, the i-limb pulse, in 2010.

But the upgraded i-limb ultra revolution is even more sophisticated, and allows Patrick to create favourite shortcuts to control the arm via an app that can be used on an iPhone 5 or 4S.

He can use the biosim mobile control app to activate 24 different grips or gestures just by tapping the screen.

The grips include different pinches, fist clenches, a tripod grip and a single finger point.

“We believe that the i-limb ultra revolution, with powered thumb rotation and the ability to quickly access multiple grip patterns, offers unparalleled dexterity and control, enabling wearers to more easily perform activities of daily living and thus increase their quality of life. Ian Stevens, CEO of Touch Bionics.

Wake Up and Dream - Radiolab

Matt Kielty introduces us to Steve Volk, a city reporter in Philadelphia who, for decades, was plagued by a recurring nightmare.

It popped up whenever Steve was going through a stressful time, and it always played out exactly the same way but no matter how self-aware Steve was about his most current set of anxieties, and no matter how hard he tried to rationalize and explain away the dream...he couldn't make it stop.

Then one year, Steve started working on a book about topics at the edge of science, and along the way he stumbled into lucid dreaming.

Pretty soon, Steve was reading through old sleep studies conducted by a scientist named Stephen LaBerge, and he was starting to wonder if lucid dreaming might not be so near the fringe after all.

So he called up LaBerge's assistant and began training himself on a set of techniques that would eventually help him put his inner demon to bed.

Read more:
Fringe-ology, by Steve Volk
Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming, by Stephen LaBerge

The Science of Lucid Dreaming - YouTube

Have you ever wanted to take control of your dreams? Now you can, with the science of how to lucid dream! With these simple steps, and a little practice, you'll soon experience sleep like never before.