Color-Changing Suit that Shows When a Paralyzed Athlete May be Injured

According to an article on Gizmodo, "Paraplegic athletes push their bodies to the absolute limit—and sometimes beyond. When an athlete injures a body part he or she can't feel, that can lead to some very dangerous situations. Now, a design team at Imperial College London has an ingenious solution: an athletic suit that uses off-the-shelf pressure sensing film to show where serious impacts have occurred."

Click here to read more about this amazing suit!

Zac Vawter Controls a Prosthetic Leg with Nothing More than His Thoughts!

Check out this video of Zac Vawter controlling a prosthetic leg with his thoughts! In the related WSJ article, “Man Controls Artificial Leg Using only His Brain,” Zac describes his experience with this awesome technology. Comparing his usual prosthetic leg and this new thought-controlled bionic one, the difference is “night and day.” “Going upstairs with my normal prosthetic, my sound leg goes up first for every step…With this I go foot-over-foot up the stairs and down the stairs,” says Zac. This is the first time a person has been able to control a prosthetic limb with his thoughts.

How does it work? According to Dr. Hargrove, one of the lead researchers, his team developed complex electrodes that attach to the skin of the limb and a software algorithm that can read the electric messages from the brain. The algorithm translates the signals into movements of the prosthetic ankle and knee.

Pretty impressive stuff! As Daniel Ferris, a biomedical engineering expert at the University of Michigan, agrees, this accomplishment “takes us closer to the point where we’re going to have robust commercial products that use signals from a person’s brain to let them walk.”

Attention All Bostonians!! The Abilities Expo Will be in Boston Sept. 20th - 22nd!

This weekend, the Abilities Expo will be held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Hall C! 

If you missed today, no need to worry, the Expo will be featured tomorrow (11AM - 5PM) and Sunday (11AM - 4PM) as well. Admission is free so if you're in the area, come check it out!

What is the Abilities Expo? As described on their website:

“Imagine everything you need, all under one roof! For more than 30 years, Abilities Expo has been the go-to source for the Community of people with disabilities, their families, seniors, veterans and healthcare professionals. Every event opens your eyes to new technologies, new possibilities, new solutions and new opportunities to change your life. Where else can you discover ability-enhancing products and services, play a few adaptive sports, learn new dance moves, attend informative workshops and only scratch the surface of what Abilities Expo has to offer?”

Click here to visit the Expo's website and see what will be available this year. Also, for a taste of what you'll see, check out the below video of Auti Angel "Dancebassador" and fellow Expo go-ers in action!