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| Bionic hand makes inventions list | Bionic hand makes inventions list |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The world's first commercially available bionic hand has been recognised as one of the top inventions of 2008. | The world's first commercially available bionic hand has been recognised as one of the top inventions of 2008. |
| The hand, developed by Livingston company Touch Bionics, was named alongside the Super Hadron Collider in Time magazine's top 50 innovations. | |
| It came in at 14th place, beating competition from the latest Mars Rover, designed to explore the red planet. | It came in at 14th place, beating competition from the latest Mars Rover, designed to explore the red planet. |
| The hand took 20 years to develop and has five separately working fingers. | The hand took 20 years to develop and has five separately working fingers. |
| This makes it more versatile than previous hands, which have often been hook-like and limited to simple opening and closing movements. | This makes it more versatile than previous hands, which have often been hook-like and limited to simple opening and closing movements. |
| The i-limb hand has a much wider range of capabilities. It has a credit-card grip, for taking hold of narrow objects, and a power hold for larger objects such as mugs. | The i-limb hand has a much wider range of capabilities. It has a credit-card grip, for taking hold of narrow objects, and a power hold for larger objects such as mugs. |
| 'Tremendous achievement' | 'Tremendous achievement' |
| It is made of high-strength plastics, and the fingers can easily be unscrewed from the hand, making it easy to service. | It is made of high-strength plastics, and the fingers can easily be unscrewed from the hand, making it easy to service. |
| Other prosthetic hands have to be removed entirely if they break meaning amputees are sometimes left for weeks without a hand while they wait for a repair. | Other prosthetic hands have to be removed entirely if they break meaning amputees are sometimes left for weeks without a hand while they wait for a repair. |
| More than 400 patients have now been fitted with the i-limb hand since its launch. | More than 400 patients have now been fitted with the i-limb hand since its launch. |
| Touch Bionics chief executive Stuart Mead hailed the recognition as a "tremendous achievement". | Touch Bionics chief executive Stuart Mead hailed the recognition as a "tremendous achievement". |
| He said: "We are delighted to have been identified by Time as one of the inventions of the year, a real honour for any innovative company." | He said: "We are delighted to have been identified by Time as one of the inventions of the year, a real honour for any innovative company." |
| Return to top | Return to top |