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Researchers at the University of Minnesota are doing some incredible things, like creating a prosthetic hand that essentially reads your mind!

As a friend of mine is fond of saying, I'm glad there are smart people in our world-- because they're out there doing some incredible things and making scientific advances we once thought could never actually come to fruition. And it's not happening in some fancy lab in New York or Los Angeles, this is happening right here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Check out what the crew up at the University of Minnesota Department of Biomedical Engineering in Minneapolis has been up to. They've been working with industry collaborators to develop a way to tap into a person's brain signals through a neural chip implanted in the arm, which effectively reads the patient’s mind. This mind-blowing technology allows amputees to move prosthetic arms and hands...using only their thoughts!

A release from the U of M Department of Biomedical Engineering explains more:

Researchers have created a small, implantable device that attaches to the peripheral nerve in a person’s arm. When combined with an artificial intelligence computer and a robotic arm, the device can read and interpret brain signals, allowing upper limb amputees to control the arm using only their thoughts.

 

That sounds pretty amazing, doesn't it? As the release also noted, this new technology is way more advanced than existing prosthetic devices, which often use a cable and harness system that is controlled by the shoulders or chest, or use sensors to pick up on subtle muscle movements. But these existing systems are clunky and often tough to learn how to use.

With this new technology, though, all a person has to do is... THINK about moving the robotic hand to get it to move. It's really amazing-- and it's being pioneered right here in Minnesota. Check out how it works in the video below. And keep scrolling to check out some other amazing life-saving devices that were also invented here in the North Star State!

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