(25 Jan 2021) LEAD IN:
Two Kenyan inventors have created a bio-robotic prosthetic arm which is operated by brain signals.
The innovation could play a significant role in assisting people living with physical disabilities with their day to day activities.
STORY-LINE:
It looks like something from a Marvel Sci-Fi movie, but this shiny robotic arm could change the real lives of those living with disabilities in Kenya.
It was invented by David Gathu and Moses Kinyua and is operated using brain signals.
The signals are converted into an electric current using a neuro-node bio-potential headset receiver.
This electric current is then pushed forward to the circuit of the robot, which gives the arm its mobility.
The arm is made from recycled wood and other materials and moves vertically and horizontally making it easier for people with disabilities to operate.
"This is an upper limb bio-robotic arm prosthetic that uses brain signals to locomote its hand to move the hand according to your desires," explains Gathu.
More than a million people in Kenya live with disabilities. Most of these have lost limbs in accidents or to polio.
In addition to difficulties with day to day activities people living with disabilities in African countries are sometimes stigmatised, even being termed as "cursed" people.
It's believed this prosthetic arm could revolutionise the way such people are accepted in society as well as helping them with mobility.
Kinyua and Gathu say they were motivated to create the arm after witnessing the challenges people living with disabilities faced in their town and villages when they were growing up.
"Using the God-given talent that we had, we tried to see what we can do in order to help them to aid their mobility to aid their day to day activities," says Kinyua.
The duo had to drop out of university after completing form four as they could no longer afford the fees. But this did not discourage them as they simply went ahead and taught themselves the skills that are needed to make the arm.
David Gichimu, who heads the rehabilitation clinic at APDK (Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya), claims that the bio-robotic arm could revolutionise the world of prosthetics as well as help the rehabilitation of people who have lost the use of their limbs.
"Such inventions of prosthetic arms or such level of technology will go in a big way not just improving our economy in terms of production but also making it more acceptable to society. At least it is not bulky, it's easier for the people with the disability to handle them. It is quite a game changer in terms of amputation and rehabilitation," he says.
As yet Kinyua and Gathu have been unable to venture into mass production due to lack of funds.
But if the product could be more widely produced in Kenya there could be major advantages for people with disabilities, as well as the wider economy.
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