DARPA-Funded DEKA Arm System Earns FDA Approval: DARPA launched the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program with a radical goal: gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an advanced electromechanical prosthetic upper limb with near-natural control that enhances independence and improves quality of life for amputees. Today, less than eight years after the effort was launched, that dream is a reality; the FDA approved the DEKA Arm System.
"DARPA is a place where we can bring dreams to life," said Dr. Geoffrey Ling, M.D., Director of DARPA's Biological Technologies Office . Dr. Ling is a retired Medical Corps neuro-critical care officer who served in combat hospitals in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He launched the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program in 2006 with a desire to provide better care "to repay some of the debt we owe to our Service members."
The newly approved system expands prosthetic choices for amputees, who have generally used body-powered prosthetics - in particular the split-hook device invented in 1912. DARPA took up the challenge to advance the field of modular upper-limb prosthetics and committed to making the significant research and development investment required.
