PHOTO: ‘Terminator’ Hand Developed By UK Scientists

A new bionic hand that can be controlled with an iPhone could offer amputees the closest thing yet to having a real hand again.

The i-limb Ultra Revolution claims to offer wearers unparalleled realism with advanced dexterity, versatility and incredibly lifelike hand movements.

The hand was developed in the UK by prosthetic design company Touch Bionics, based in Livingstone.

Among the features are a motorised rotating thumb which can be controlled by the wearer’s muscle signals and which can move automatically into position as part of a pre-set grip pattern.

Built-in Bluetooth functionality allows an app on a user’s iPhone to store and transmit up to 24 pre-programmed grips or gestures.

One of the first customers is 16-year-old Patrick Kane who contracted meningitis aged nine months old.

Doctors were forced to amputate Patrick’s right leg below the knee as well as all of the fingers of his left hand and part of each finger on his right hand.

But it was not until he was nine years old that he was given his first prosthetic hand, which was a passive device that fitted over what remained of his left hand.

“I really didn’t use it very much,” said Patrick. “It didn’t provide me with any new function, and I had become very comfortable using my left hand in my day-to-day life anyway.”

Now, after a visit to Touch Bionics, Patrick has become the first person in the UK to be fitted with the Revolution which he says has given him functionality he never before thought possible.

“It’s more efficient and everything looks and feels so much smoother,” Patrick told Sky News.

“You can make the thumb oppose your fingers or make it parallel with them. Previously I’d have to manually change my thumb by pushing it with my other hand.

“It’s slowly getting closer to being like a real human hand. It can even do things a real hand can’t – and sometimes stronger and quicker.

“It’s really useful in science class when everyone has to use metal tongs to pick up things that are really hot while I can just use my hand. I get a lot of Terminator jokes!

“A real human hand will be difficult to replicate exactly as it has had millions of years of evolution put into it. But the possibilities the Revolution offers are very exciting.”