Commando News Australia Edition 14 2018

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- A Welcome Breakthrough in Upper Limb Prosthetics
When it comes to multi-articulating upper limb
prosthetics, there have been some great achievements,
but also mixed results.
The engineering challenges are many, with chief amongst
them being the robustness and therefore the real
practicality and usefulness of the hand for the end user.
About 6 years ago, due to breaking both his wrists in a
biking accident, engineer Mathew Jury became
acquainted with what it's like to lose the use of a limb.
Thus began an obsession to create a multi-articulating
prosthetic that would dramatically overcome the
weaknesses he clearly saw plaguing the current design
solutions on offer.
He recognised that currently available myo-electric hands
have two key deficiencies - water resistance and
robustness.
Following three years of burning midnight oil and two 3D
printers later, the real breakthroughs began to emerge.
Mathew knew he was on to something very promising.
Mathew gathered a multi-talented team around him, and
a growing resource of contractors. With funding for
research and development TASKA(tm) moved from
prototype to reality. Today the TASKA(tm) team share the
same mission:
"We are all driven by the same thing. Developing a
prosthetic hand that is not just a little better, but hugely
better. For us innovation has never been about creating a
piece of new technology - it is all about delivering real life
practicality that improves people's lives."
Well known and accomplished Australian Orthopaedic
Surgeon, Dr Nick Hartnell, has extensive knowledge in
this area of traumatic injury and he sees enormous
advantages in the TASKA hand.
The precision design and engineering of TASKA(tm) has
made simple what is not in other models. The control
system and the hand mechanism have been made as
practical as possible so you can do more tasks. You can
choose to change grips by hitting a button on the back of
the prosthetic hand as well as traditional EMG methods.
The multi-articulating hand mechanism is flexible yet
tough in a way that sets it apart. Its open grasp is wide so
you can pick up more objects. Its grip speed is impressive
- AND, it's waterproof.
This kind of precision engineering opens the door for
practical people to complete many more tasks inside and
outside.
The TASKA hand stores more than 20 Grip patterns.
However, most day-to-day activities can be performed
using just a small set of 3 frequent-use grips:
GENERAL GRASP, FLEXI-TOOL and PINCER PRECISION
GRIP.
Dr Hartnell operates out of Bowral, NSW and can be
contacted for further information via email:
nick@bonesurgeon.com.au
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COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 14 I 2018 11