Prosthetic arm with built-in MP3 player

9 April 2009

Advanced Arm Dynamics (AAD) has launched the Reverb Arm, an 'activity-specific' prosthetic arm that has MP3 playing capability with amplified sound quality.

The AAD Reverb Arm“The Reverb Arm is all about the cool factor for upper extremity amputees,” said Chris Lake, southwest clinical director of Advanced Arm Dynamics.

“This is ‘Monster Garage’ meets the prosthetic industry. Just about any upper extremity amputee that would want the Reverb Arm, could have it. Our ability to look at other aspects of our patients’ lives enables our team to try new things and create what works best for our patients. The Reverb Arm would be useful to active upper extremity patients who like to work out.”

Bernie Diamond, a patient of Advanced Arm Dynamics of the Southwest was able to put the Reverb Arm to real world use on a recent ski trip with other amputees. “This is so cool. The sound quality was crystal clear and the device itself was light and small, not bulky at all. I was able to hold onto the ski poles and still enjoy listening to my iPod,” said Mr. Diamond. “The sound was so loud, it could be heard up to seventy yards away.”

The development approach included trying to optimize the speaker placement so that the sound could echo through the socket providing depth to the bass.

“We were able to maximize the acoustic quality within the sound and power the MP3 player utilizing the prosthetic battery,” commented Mr. Lake. “Each day we challenge ourselves, to push a little bit farther, to find the most creative solutions for our patients.”

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