Austrian Man With Bionic Arm Dies After Car Crash
10-23-2010, 10:53 PM
(Oct. 23) -- The first European to use a mind-controlled prosthetic arm died in Austria after crashing his car into a tree.
Christian Kandlbauer, 22, died Thursday in Graz, a city in southern Austria, The Associated Press reported.
Kandlbauer had a prosthetic left arm that he moved simply by thinking. He also wore a normal prosthesis as his right arm. They were fitted after he lost both arms in an accident in 2005.
"He isn't just one of our prosthetic users, but a friend for many of us," a spokesman for Otto Bock Healthcare Products, the company that made the bionic limb, said before Kandlbauer died from his injuries.
The cause of the crash, which occurred on Tuesday, isn't clear. Kandlbauer's car burst into flames and his right prosthesis was found more than six feet from the wreckage, The Guardian reported. Volunteer firemen say it was thrown there by the force of the crash.
Kandlbauer's bionic arm responded to his thoughts in real-time. The limb was connected to his chest muscles using nerves that were harvested from his original arms, The Austrian Independent said.
He lost both arms while climbing a 20,000 volt electrical cable.
Eventually, the new arms allowed him to get a job with his previous employer and, after intensive training, to drive. His Subaru car was fitted with a modified emergency brake as well as a button to allow him to operate features such as windshield wipers and indicator lights.
He drove himself to work every day.
"I am able to do things in my daily life alone without the help of another person," Kandlbauer said, according to The Guardian. "I am independent."
He was the first person outside the U.S. to use a mind-controlled prosthesis.
Christian Kandlbauer, 22, died Thursday in Graz, a city in southern Austria, The Associated Press reported.
Kandlbauer had a prosthetic left arm that he moved simply by thinking. He also wore a normal prosthesis as his right arm. They were fitted after he lost both arms in an accident in 2005.
"He isn't just one of our prosthetic users, but a friend for many of us," a spokesman for Otto Bock Healthcare Products, the company that made the bionic limb, said before Kandlbauer died from his injuries.
The cause of the crash, which occurred on Tuesday, isn't clear. Kandlbauer's car burst into flames and his right prosthesis was found more than six feet from the wreckage, The Guardian reported. Volunteer firemen say it was thrown there by the force of the crash.
Kandlbauer's bionic arm responded to his thoughts in real-time. The limb was connected to his chest muscles using nerves that were harvested from his original arms, The Austrian Independent said.
He lost both arms while climbing a 20,000 volt electrical cable.
Eventually, the new arms allowed him to get a job with his previous employer and, after intensive training, to drive. His Subaru car was fitted with a modified emergency brake as well as a button to allow him to operate features such as windshield wipers and indicator lights.
He drove himself to work every day.
"I am able to do things in my daily life alone without the help of another person," Kandlbauer said, according to The Guardian. "I am independent."
He was the first person outside the U.S. to use a mind-controlled prosthesis.
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