New iLimb Arms And Hands Are Smarter And More Subtle Prosthetics

You know how annoying it is in winter when gloves make it hard to use your iPhone? Imagine what it’s like for people with prosthetic hands. Taking off a glove doesn’t solve the problem. Touch Bionics’ iLimb technology is working to solve this small problem as well as larger ones for people with upper limb amputations.

Leimkuehler’s Prosthetics and Orthotics hosted a patient information session last week at their Cleveland clinic. The event focused on new iLimb technology from Touch Bionics and helped patients and their families understand the new upper-limb technology that is available.  Regional account manager of Touch Bionics, Jeremy Hiett, said the company’s goal is to create new technology that allows people to get around almost as if they weren’t wearing a prosthetic.

The iLimb system includes Grip Chips, which sense a person’s surroundings and automatically change hand position based on motion sensing, and Touch Screen Covers, which allow the user to unlock touch-screen devices with their prosthetic.  Touch Bionics hands have 24 grip patterns, while their “digits” or individual fingers have 12 grip patterns...