Whats going on in the RIC/VA Biomechatronics Development Laboratory
Testing the compliance of the two motor finger for the DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 final limb system
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Biomechatronics Development Laboratory in the Media
"Bionics” Advanced prosthetic limb system featured on the cover of National Geographic Magazine, January 2010
"http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/bionics/fischman-text.html”
RIC's pioneering work in bionics is recognized around the world for helping amputees regain natural function through the use of neural-controlled prosthetics. This cutting- edge science is featured on the cover of January's National Geographic Magazine. The hand system featured on the cover was developed by by a team including RIC's Biomechatronics Lab, which was chosen for the final limb system for DARPA's Revolutionizing Prosthetics program.
pdf. . .
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"IEEE ACE award” winning the IEEE Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society ACE Award
The Biomechatronics Development Laboratory and the Neural Engineering Center for Artificial Limbs win the IEEE Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society ACE Award for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
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Asked what drew him to prosthetics engineering, Richard Weir,
PhD, goes back to his childhood in Ireland. “I have a twin
sister who lost a hand when she was five. My father was a doctor,
my uncle was an engineer, and I’ve always been interested in
science fiction, robots and androids. I imagine it’s an amalgam of
all those things.”
Today, as a scientist with VA, Northwestern University and the
Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Weir is on the leading edge of
prosthetics technology. more . . .
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"UNB hand on Le téléjournal Acadie” The UNB hand is featured on Le téléjournal Acadie on Societe Radio-Canada, August 2009
The University of New Brunswick (UNB) Multifunction Hand System is featured on the Le téléjournal Acadie news show on the Société Radio-Canada station. This segment describes all segments of this sophisticated project including the Biomechatronics Development Laboratory’s work on the mechanical design of the hand system.
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Three prototype limbs were developed for the DARPA revolutionizing prosthetics program were developed by the BioMechatronics Development Laboratory at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in collaboration with Otto Bock
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"The Pentagon's Bionic Arm” Advanced prosthetic limb systems featured on 60 minutes, April 2009
The arm system featured here was developed by DEKA, in conjunction with researchers here at RIC, including technical and clinical advice from Dr. Richard Weir.
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Jonathan Kuniholm wears a prototype of the prosthetic arm created by the DARPA Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 project. The intrinsic hand shown was developed at the Biomechatronics development laboratory.
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"Rebuilding Bryan Anderson” by Brian Mockenhaupt, Esquire Magazine, February, 2008.
Discussing the most advanced prosthetics available and upcoming. This includes the intrinsic hand developed by the biomechatronics development laboratory and the IMES implantable myoelectric sensor system developed by Dr. Weir.
Dr. Richard F. ff. Weir, Ph.D, as part of the Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP2009) team led by John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), was awarded the POPULAR MECHANICS 2007 Breakthrough Innovator Award for the design of the Proto 2 myoelectric arm and IMES sensor system.
Discusing the DARPA RP 2009 project including the IMES sensor system developed by the BioMechatronics Development Laboratory - "To gather signals required for finer control, Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 engineers will turn to rice-size injectable myoelectric sensors, or IMES -- devices being developed by RIC scientists Richard Weir and Jack Schorsch, and Philip Troyk of the Illinois Institute of Technology. Once embedded in the muscles to be read, the IMES devices will send much clearer signals, and many more of them."
more. . .
"Dr. Richard Weir speaks in front of a Senate committee hearing on VA research” April, 2006.

The highlight of an April 27 Senate hearing on VA research
was the demonstration of an innovative prosthetic hand being
developed by Richard Weir, PhD, an engineer at the Chicago VA
Medical Center and Northwestern University.
Weir demonstrated a partial hand prosthesis, designed for
those who have a wrist but have lost their fingers and thumb. The
myoelectric unit has a built-in controller that interprets electrical
signals from residual muscles.
more. . .
This page was last updated Wednesday November 25 2009