Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine surgeons performed a first-of-its-kind procedure on a Chicago-area man who is on track to become the first U.S. patient to receive a bone-anchored bionic arm designed to respond to his nerve and muscle signals.
The procedure is part of a five-year osseointegration clinical study led by Levi Hargrove, PhD, scientific chair of the Regenstein Foundation Center for Bionic Medicine at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a Chicago-based physical medicine and rehabilitation research hospital. The study is a partnership among Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Northwestern Medicine, the University of Chicago and Integrum, the Swedish medical device company behind the OPRA implant system, according to a Sept. 17 news release.
During an eight-hour operation July 15 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, surgeons implanted a titanium fixture into the patient’s residual arm bone and placed electrodes on his muscles and around his nerves. The procedure was conducted under an investigational device exemption from the FDA.
The e-OPRA system, short for Enhanced Osseoanchored Prostheses for the Rehabilitation of Amputees, eliminates the conventional prosthetic socket by attaching the arm directly to bone. The implanted electrodes are designed to use muscle signals to control the prosthesis and stimulate peripheral nerves to provide sensory feedback. Researchers are already capturing muscle signals from the electrodes.
The study is the first to combine osseointegration, targeted muscle reinnervation and pattern-recognition control using implanted electromyography sensors and nerve cuff electrodes for sensory feedback.
Eight participants will be enrolled in the study, which is supported by an $8.7 million award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. The first participant will begin rehabilitation and training with the bionic arm in the coming months. The study is expected to conclude in 2030.
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