"We developed and tested this procedure for years; this is 1920s surgery for a 21st Century application." said Dr. Kuiken. "What's really novel about this is not so much the surgical technique, but the reason for doing the surgery and using it to help control artificial limbs and make them work better." The technique is limited to amputated arms for now, although it is hoped that it can be applied to legs as well, eventually.

The Dextra hand, invented by Dr. William Craelius of Rutgers University, takes the concept one step further. It's the first device of its kind to enable a person to use existing nerve pathways to control individual, computer-driven mechanical fingers. Dextra has been demonstrated in such complex activities as typing and piano playing. Although the level of dexterity is below that which would be required to play Flight of the Bumblebee, Craelius believes "bionic technologies can be adapted for restoring some degree of almost any lost function."

For example, he cites a tiny, wireless implant developed at UCLA by a team led by Dr. Gerald Loeb. This can be injected under the skin to transmit neural signals to bionic devices. According to Craelius, while it may require more than 1,000 connections between the brain and bionic devices to communicate the data, it is probably achievable using existing technology, even if most of the necessary computer processing would have to be done outside the body. At the current rate of increasing computing power, speed and miniaturization, however, Craelius says that the entire processing system may be able to be contained internally, in the brain or elsewhere in the body, in the next 10 years.