An army soldier fitted with a bionic left arm has returned to duty after last year losing a limb in an ammunition depot explosion in Kaohsiung.
The service member identified as Sergeant Hung (洪) can perform 14 types of fine motor functions with the cybernetic prosthetic, a Tri-Service General Hospital spokesperson said on Dec. 5 at a medical technology expo at the Nangang Exhibition Center.
The sergeant could use the prosthesis to shake hands, grasp objects and pull the trigger of a gun, allowing him to return to normal life and military service, they said.
Photo: CNA
Hung traveled to Japan, had fewer problems with daily life than before and was recently reinstated in the 6th Army Corps, he said, adding that Hung’s biggest post-bionic arm wish is hitting the gym and getting his muscles back.
In July last year, Hung was carrying out a technical inspection of 120mm mortar shells when one of the rounds detonated, wounding nine service members nearby.
Hung sustained heavy injuries to his left arm and right leg in the blast, and was showing no signs of life until doctors revived him at a care facility, a hospital spokesperson said. His arm was subsequently amputated.
Hung wore the prosthesis for a year and trained intensively for four months to achieve proficiency with the arm, they said, adding the artificial limb’s latency for trained users ranges from half a second to one second.
Chang Chih-ya (張智雅), head of the physical medicine and rehabilitation department, said the bionics program at the Tri-Service General Hospital stemmed from collaboration with Ottobock Co in Germany.
More than 30,000 people have lost limbs in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, spurring the development of artificial limbs with improved functionality, he said.
The two institutions created the cybernetic arm and rehabilitation regimen used to restore Hung’s arm, he said.
The bionic arm uses sensors to read electronic signals sent by the nerve endings of the stump, enabling a trained user to manipulate the artificial limb at will, he said.
The life-like contours are designed to be more aesthetically pleasing and reduce disruption to social life, Chang said.
Tu Lien-shui, director of Taiwan O and P Co, one of the project’s corporate partners, said the next step in cybernetics is to utilize implant technology to increase precision and responsivity.
The hospital and its partners are also working on 3D printers to make bionic prostheses more affordable, he added.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
Police have issued warnings against traveling to Cambodia or Thailand when others have paid for the travel fare in light of increasing cases of teenagers, middle-aged and elderly people being tricked into traveling to these countries and then being held for ransom. Recounting their ordeal, one victim on Monday said she was asked by a friend to visit Thailand and help set up a bank account there, for which they would be paid NT$70,000 to NT$100,000 (US$2,136 to US$3,051). The victim said she had not found it strange that her friend was not coming along on the trip, adding that when she
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
RSS