首个由意念控制的仿生假肢问世

32岁的美国软件工程师扎克·沃特四年前在一次车祸中失去了右小腿，他曾认为自己再也无法像正常人一样走路了。如今，芝加哥康复研究所科学家帮沃特装上了一种由意念控制的假肢，让他像正常人一样可以上下楼梯、逛公园。

沃特说：“（借助这种由意念控制的假肢，）我可以像正常人一样走路，不需要任何特别的训练，没有多余的按钮或技巧。我认为它有里程碑式的开创性的意义。”

这种靠意念控制的假肢只有1.8%的错误率，堪称完美。这种假肢通过两条神经与身体连接，并通过传感器向身体发送信号。当沃特想站立时，假肢会发力支撑；当他想弯曲膝盖时，假肢会配合弯曲。更棒的是，沃特完全不需要随身携带处理大脑指令的电脑控制设备，甚至连多余的线缆都没有。

这种假肢目前还处于研究阶段，未来将用于帮助在伊拉克和阿富汗军事冲突中致残的1200余名士兵恢复行动自由。

When Zac Vawter lost his leg in a motorcycle accident a few years ago, he thought he\'d never walk like a normal person again. But today, the 32-year-old software engineer can climb stairs and stroll through parks. The only difference is that one of his legs is a mind-controlled robot.

Vawter is a "test pilot" for an Army-funded study on the latest in bionic limb technology. The leg that\'s been fitted to him comes from the Rehabilitation Center of Chicago\'s Center for Bionic Medicine and almost obviously represents the future of prosthetics.Vawter told the media, "It\'s just walk like I would normally walk. It\'s not special training or buttons or tricks. That\'s a big piece of what I think is groundbreaking and phenomenal about this work."

The limb is close to flawless with just a 1.8 percent rate of errors. It\'s connected to his leg through two nerves and linked to the limb through sensors. When Vawter thinks about standing up, the limb lifts him up. When he thinks about bending his knee, the knee bends. And that\'s it—no extra wires connecting to a computer that Vawter has to carry around and no extra engineer steering the way.

Next, this research will go to help the 1,200-plus soldiers who lost limbs in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.