A motor-powered bionic system for patients with missing fingers
Touch Bionics has commercially launched ProDigits, the first powered bionic finger solution for patients with missing fingers. Currently, partial-hand patients have a dexterous powered solution to support their return to function and independence.
ProDigits solution extends life-changing technology to partial-hand patients, whose finger absence is either due to congenital anomalies or to amputation from a traumatic incident or medical condition. The amputee population is estimated at around 40,000 in the US and 1.2 million worldwide, said the company.
The company claims that with the ability to bend, touch, pick-up and point, the ProDigits used within an overall prosthesis reflects the function of a natural hand.
Stuart Mead, CEO of Touch Bionics, said: “With ProDigits, our goal is to provide all that we can to reinstate a patient’s function and interaction with other people in their chosen lifestyle and career.”
Jack Uellendahl, clinical prosthetics specialist at Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, said: “With ProDigits, each finger is capable of being a standalone functional unit, allowing for fitting of many different configurations of hand absence. In addition, the movement of the ProDigit prosthesis is natural in appearance, delivering a more elegant solution to partial hand restoration than previously possible.”