Inspiring! Talented engineer revives paralyzed limb using bionic arm

Los Angeles : If you think bionic arm is a reality only in movies, you are wrong. A 31-year-old man, Wayan Sumartana, also known as Tawan who hails from Bali, has built a machine which acts as his bionic arm.

Actually, Tawan used to be a farmer before he suffered a stroke which completely paralyzed his left arm but this did not stop him as he obsessed with machines and electrical engineering in particular built a machine which acts as a bionic arm.

As per Tawan, “It’s similar to a lie detector. I think of something I want to do and my brain sends a signal to this device; I use the signal, I give it power, so it is amplified. For those who don’t believe me, please come to my welding workshop. [The device] is actually very simple, it’s not very sophisticated.”

The man feels that his innovation can help stroke victims reclaim their lives. He observes, “Life is hard, and dying is easy.”

The 31-year-old Indonesian suffered a stroke six months ago, which left his left arm paralyzed. Sumardana developed a bionic arm from scrap and used metal parts, to help him keep working as a welder. The bionic arm functions by using signals from electrodes connected to Sumardana's scalp. The welder managed to create it using knowledge acquired during studies at a vocational school as well as searching on the Internet.