Teenager receives the world's most advanced bionical hand

A teenage racing fan got a helping hand from his favorite Formula One team - literally.

Matthew James, 14,  was born without a left hand and unable to afford a costly top-of-the-line prosthetic hand that could do more than the claw-like prosthesis that he had been using. So last June the Wokingham, England, boy wrote to Mercedes F1 boss Ross Brawn to ask for help, joking that in exchange for "sponsoring" the hand, he'd plaster the prosthesis with Mercedes ads.

Matthew's condition isn't particularly rare. About one in 20 children are born with some sort of congenital hand "differences," according to the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. In addition to missing hands, common defects include webbed fingers and missing or extra fingers (a condtion known as polydactyly).

But Brawn's team came through for Matthew anyway. It struck a deal with Touch Bionics, the Scottish firm that makes the $40,000 prosthesis, to fit the teen with one.

What does Matthew say about his new i-LIMB Pulse prosthesis?

"It is just amazing," he told the Telegraph."'My old artificial hand was not great. It had a pretty basic open close mechanism similar to a clamp. But with this one I can do everything, it is just like the real thing."

The new hand attaches to Matthew's left wrist with a silicone socket and features an individual motor for each finger. That makes it much more like a real hand. Matthew can use it to tie his shoelaces, catch a ball, and hold a pen to draw pictures, the Telegraph reported.

But the extra versatility isn't all good news for Matthew.

"Unfortunately, there's one downside to it," he told the BBC. "I'm having to do more chores."


 Source: CBS News