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Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Iraq vet shows off bionic hand

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[July 25, 2007]  NEW YORK  (AP) -- Iraq war veteran Sgt. Juan Arredondo can grasp tennis balls and door knobs with his left hand again, now that he's been outfitted with a bionic hand that has flexible fingers.

The 27-year-old former soldier, who lost his left hand in 2005 during a patrol, is one of the first recipients of the i-LIMB.

"To have this movement, it's -- it's amazing," Arredondo said Monday as he showed off the limb made by Scotland-based Touch Bionics. "It just gets me more excited about now, about the future."

The prosthetic hand is made of semi-translucent plastics. Five individual motors power the fingers, allowing the person to grasp round objects. The hand's gestures are made possible through electrode plates that detect electrical signals generated in the remaining muscles in the amputated limb.

The i-LIMB can be covered with flexible material to mimic the look of human skin, called cosmesis.

Arredondo, of San Antonio, likened the limb to the bionics in "Star Wars" and "Terminator." "My son, he goes nuts about it," he said.

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On the Net:

http://www.touchbionics.com/

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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