Artificial Hands

Earlier this week, Ken and I attended the ARCS kick-off dinner at the beautifully appointed Sunset Club.  The exquisite floral murals in the very feminine ballroom by Yakima artist, Leo Adams have always been one of my favorite parts of the club.

ARCS, (of which I am an associate member) is a women’s organization that specifically raises funds to support graduate school scholarships for Washington State University and the University of Washington in the areas of engineering, science and medicine.  Since the Seattle Chapter of ARCS began 30 years ago, we have invested over $10 million at UW and over $1 million at WSU in individual Fellowships.  WSU President Elson Floyd attended the dinner and the featured dinner speaker was Yoky Masuoka, Associate Professor of Science and Engineering at the University of Washington and director of UW Neurobotics Laboratory, and a 2007 MacArthur Fellow.  Her research combines neuroscience and robotics--often referred to by Matsuoka as "neurobotics”.

An example of her work is a lifelike robotic hand, modeled bone-by-bone from a human hand, with multiple motors each corresponding to muscles and with strings playing the role of tendons along each digit. Her intent is that nervous system signals will ultimately be able to control the electronic replica in the same manner as a natural appendage.  The MacArthur Foundation characterizes her work as "transforming our understanding of how the central nervous system coordinates musculoskeletal action and of how robotic technology can enhance the mobility of people with manipulation disabilities.

She said that there are only two surgeons in the country, one of whom resides in Seattle, that have the skill to implant a chip in the human brain that will provide the neural engineering to actually allow communication with an appendage (such as a hand) and produce movement.  This is pretty amazing science!  Ken and I were both fascinated as were our friends in attendance including  ARCS President Mickey Flowers and husband, Bob, Patty & Jimmy Barrier, Carol Wright, Elizabeth Rudolf, Sandy & Kent Carlson, Lynn & Steve Mowe . . .  and many more.