World’s first bionic finger unveiled

Claimed to be the world’s first bionic finger by the prosthetic company Touch Bionics, who developed the technology, the ProDigit can bend, touch, pick up and point with the function of a natural hand.

Phil Newman, marketing director of Touch Bionics, an NHS spin off company in Livingston, Scotland, told The Telegraph:: "There has been no solution like this for the partial hand amputee community.

"The ProDigits provide a powered device with a grip and it has returned these people to a level of functionality and independence. It is supporting a community that has never had support before."

Three control strategies can be employed to power the device: one is through myoelectric sensors that register muscle signals from the hand to the brain, or through a pressure-sensitive switch input or a touch pad that relies on a remnant digit or tissue surrounding the metacarpal bone to provide the necessary pressure to activate the finger.

Touch Bionics’ prosthetic hand was named in Time Magazine’s top 50 inventions of last year.

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