The "Star Wars" Prosthetic Arm Was Approved for Sale in the U.S.

A war disbled man, who lost both of his arms in World War I, learns to hold knife and fork with his prostheses. (Berliner Verlag/Archiv)

 Known as the DEKA arm—and nicknamed the “Luke” arm after Luke Skywalker from Star Wars—the prosthetic can make 10 specific movements, says Reuters. That's not a huge range, but it's certainly a step up from the manipulative abilities of a hook or claw or other immobile replacement limbs. The DEKA arm is separated from existing myoelectric prosthetics (prostheses that turn muscle contractions into motion) by being able to perform more than one motion at a time. The DEKA arm is certainly not at the forefront of engineering technology when it comes to prosthetics—other arms exist that give wears a rudimentary sense of touch. Of course, there are wonderful technological and engineering innovations going on in labs and workshops around the world all the time. Yet until they're shown to be safe and approved by the government for sale, they'll likely never be seen out in the world. The DEKA arm is the first myoelectric prosthetic that can do multiple motions at once that has been approved by the FDA, says Reuters. The advanced arm is certainly flashy and could potentially be very liberating for those who can afford to use it.