'Star Wars'-inspired bionic arm, FDA approved

The inventor of the Segway got inspired after watching the 'Star Wars' series and came up with a bionic arm with high sensitivity that could change amputees lives.

Although the DEKA arm has been around for some time now, the FDA only recently approved it, after eight years of research and testing.

What makes DEKA different from other prosthetic arms is that it is controlled through brain signals and it allows its user to perform very delicate operations such as handling raw eggs, zipping up a coat or unlocking the door. The DEKA was dubbed 'Luke' after Luke Skywalker, 'Star Wars' hero who got his arm replaced by a bionic prosthesis after losing his own in a battle against Darth Vader.

The arm is powered by a battery and it is shaped and weighs about the same as a natural arm. A computer inside the device can recognize the move the user wants to perform by detecting the contractions of the muscles near where the prosthesis is attached.

'I never thought in my lifetime I'd see something this functional come out. It's definitely going to change my life, and more importantly it's going to change the life of my family. Because ... I'm going to be less dependent on them,' double-amputee Chuck Hildreth told journalists.

A study performed by the FDA commission on 36 amputees using the DEKA prosthesis revealed that 90% of them were able to complete more delicate actions than normal prosthesis would have permitted them.