The Journal of mHealth Vol 1 Issue 3 (June 2014) | Page 20

Industry News

'Grip Chips' Let Hand Prostheses
Think for Themselves
Touch Bionics, a manufacturer of highend hand prostheses, has announced
a number of new technologies that
enhance their i-limb ultra revolution
bionic hand.
Of particular interest are the companies
new Grip Chips. These coin-sized Bluetooth-enabled devices, can be stuck to
any object to automatically activate a particular grip of the hand when it comes
near. For example, when sitting down
in front of the computer, the hand can
immediately fold all except one of the
fingers to make typing on the keyboard
easier.
Using the my i-limb app, patients can
easily program grip chips with any grip
or gesture and place in a desired location. Simply holding an i-limb ultra
revolution device within close range to
a grip chip will activate the programmed
feature. The intuitive solution combined
with the dexterity of the prosthetic hand

enables users to perform a variety of
activities with ease and precision.
The limbs can be currently controlled
using a smartphone interface that allows
the user to select pre-defined grip positions for their prosthesis. The novel
Bluetooth-enabled devices mean that
these pre-defined grips can be more
quickly accessed in relation to the users
environment, allowing the correct grip
to be assumed at the necessary time of
operation. Other examples of how this
can be practically incorporated into a
patient's everyday life would be for activities like picking up a cup, or operating
door handles. By automating the grip
process the prosthesis becomes much
more intuitive to the user's individual
requirements.

grammed via the mobile app.
To make that process easier, the new
i-limb skin active TS prosthetic hand surface works with touchscreen devices and
all i-limb devices will be made compatible with the Android OS.
For more information visit Touch Bionics online at: www.touchbionics.com n

The grip chips add to the range of control options for users of the companies
i-limb prosthetic limbs. In total there are
36 different grip options that can be pro-

Proteus Raises $120M to Scale
Smart Pills
Proteus Digital Health has raised $120 million from new, undisclosed investors. The company will use the funding to continue
its plans to commercialise its ingestible sensor system at scale, as
well as to continue demonstrating the value of the technology
on health outcomes and costs.
The Proteus digital medicine platform is a medication management and adherence system that includes unique measurement
tools, like sensor-enabled pills, a peel-and-stick biometric sensor
patch worn on the body, and companion smartphone apps. The
patch records when a pill is ingested and also tracks other things
like sleep patterns and physical activity levels. The ingestible
sensor component secured FDA clearance in July 2012, while
the company’s sensor-laden patch got FDA clearance in 2010.
“We are entering the commercial era of the Internet of Things
(IoT) – your car, your clothes and increasingly your personal
care products are going to be connected,” President and CEO
Andrew Thompson said in a statement. “Our focus is on
partnering with major health systems to deliver solutions that
enable consumers and their families to switch on their

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June 2014