A few decades ago, youngsters all across the country marveled at the Bionic Man. He was an intelligent, amazing creature that was part man and part machine. Some youngsters have since become brave, honored soldiers serving in the United States Military. Unfortunately, soldiers come home in flag-covered caskets or damaged remnants of who they were, missing parts of themselves entirely. Until recently, amputees who served our great country were fitted with hard, plastic, and barely functional limbs, but those times have past. The reality of the Bionic Man is just around the corner.

The Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, recently bestowed a multi-million dollar contract to the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University. These funds, over $30 million worth, will be used to create and test a new type of prosthetic limb known as a Modular Prosthetic Limb, or MPL. These futuristic, cutting-edge prostheses will revolutionize the amputee world as they will be controlled by the brain and function much like lost limbs.

Last year APL scientists worked strenuously and endlessly to create new prosthetic arms that would make Captain Hook hitch a ride on his alligator stalker. Two prototypes were developed and these complex, extraordinary designs were astounding in their abilities. The MPL can complete over 22 motions, including movement of each and every finger. This nine pound device is so much like a human limb in dexterity that it can respond to its owner’s thoughts. Michael McLoughlin, the program manager at APL, stated that these prosthesis are much more like human limbs in form and use and will revolutionize the way amputees function. During the last phase of development, prostheses will be tested on humans to see how well the devices react to the brain’s commands. Not only that, but these futuristic limbs will also be able to give their owners sensory input, regenerating their ability to feel touch, something many amputees have only dreamed of.