Two Calit2 Researchers Involved in UCI Prosthetic Hand Project
March 2, 2006 / By Thomas Mitchell
Irvine, Calif., February 27, 2006 -- The Reeve-Irvine Research Center at the University of California, Irvine has received a $10,000 gift from Joan Irvine Smith for research to improve the functionality of prosthetic hands and arms.
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Smith made the gift soon after reading an October 2005 story in The Orange County Register about a 19-year-old UCI student, Ryan Langan, who had initiated a project to advance prosthetic technologies at the campus’s Reeve-Irvine Research Center.
“For a long time I’ve wanted to do my part for the veterans of the war in Iraq,” Smith explained. “So when I saw a way to be helpful that would also advance research at UC Irvine, I recognized it as the perfect opportunity to open the door for new breakthroughs in the development of prosthetic hands.”
Current upper-limb prosthetic devices do not simulate the function and appearance of a real arm efficiently. Even myoelectric prostheses, which have active-motion capabilities controlled by sensors, do not offer the kind of realistic action that the research team hopes to develop. The team has identified the following advances that would significantly improve upper-extremity prostheses: full range of motion, including articulating fingers; light-grasping capability for opposing fingers and thumbs; tactile sensors; and the ability to control a prosthetic hand by signals from the nervous system.
The work is being carried out primarily by three UCI researchers: William C. Tang and Abraham Lee, professors of biomedical engineering; and James Fallon, professor of anatomy and neurobiology. Oswald Steward, director of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center, said that Smith’s gift was key to getting the project started.
“With the seed funding provided by Joan Irvine Smith, we can begin to establish collaborative links that will eventually lead to a new ‘arm’ of the Reeve-Irvine Research Center – advanced prosthetic hand research,” Steward said.
A staunch supporter of UCI since well before its first students arrived in 1965, Smith is the great-granddaughter of James Irvine, an immigrant who assembled about 120,000 acres of what is now Orange County to form the Irvine Ranch. Largely as a result of her efforts, The Irvine Company donated to the University of California Board of Regents 1,000 acres of land that became the UCI campus.
About the Reeve-Irvine Research Center: The Reeve-Irvine Research Center was established to study how injuries and diseases traumatize the spinal cord and result in paralysis or other loss of neurological function, with the goal of finding cures. It also facilitates the coordination and cooperation of scientists around the world seeking cures for paraplegia, quadriplegia and other diseases impacting neurological function. Named in honor of Christopher Reeve, the center is part of the UCI School of Medicine.
About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,400 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.3 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.
Media Contacts
Thomas Mitchell
(949) 824-7915
tjm@uci.edu