In Photos: Quadriplegic Uses Mind-Controlled Prosthesis

Using Her Mind

quadriplegic uses mind-controlled prosthetic — (Image credit: UPMC)

Jan Scheuermann, 53, of Whitehall Borough, has quadriplegia for more than nine years and is participating in a trial testing brain computer interface technology that allows her to move a robot arm with her thoughts.

Eating Chocolate

Jan Scheuermann, who has quadriplegia, brings a chocolate bar to her mouth using a robot arm she is guiding with her thoughts. Research assistant Elke Brown, M.D., watches in the background.

Mind Control

Researchers Andrew Schwartz, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Tyler-Kabara, M.D., Ph.D., talk with Jan Scheuermann. Research assistants John Downey (facing camera) and Brian Wodlinger, Ph.D., chat in the background.

Reaching Out

Jan Scheuermann reaches out with the thought-controlled robot arm to touch the hand of researcher Jennifer Collinger, Ph.D.

Stacking Cones

Scheuermann stacks cones with a mind-controlled robot arm. Research assistant Brian Wodlinger, Ph.D., watches her work.

The Hand

mind-controlled prosthetic hand — (Image credit: DARPA and JHU/APL.)

the prosthetic arm, designed by the John Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) and funded by the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).