TED2007
Dean Kamen: Luke, a new prosthetic arm for soldiers
Braccia nuove per i veterani: Dean Kamen
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L'inventore Dean Kamen ci mostra il braccio prostetico che sta sviluppando per conto della Difesa Americana. Il suo impegno a risolvere problemi con la tecnologia onorando al contempo lo spirito umano non è mai stato tanto evidente
Dean Kamen - Inventor
Dean Kamen landed in the limelight with the Segway, but he has been innovating since high school, with more than 150 patents under his belt. Recent projects include portable energy and water purification for the developing world, and a prosthetic arm for maimed soldiers. Full bio
Dean Kamen landed in the limelight with the Segway, but he has been innovating since high school, with more than 150 patents under his belt. Recent projects include portable energy and water purification for the developing world, and a prosthetic arm for maimed soldiers. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:25
I got a visit almost exactly a year ago,
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Circa un anno fa, venne a trovarmi
00:29
a little over a year ago, from a very senior person at the Department of Defense.
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un alto esponente del Dipartimento della Difesa.
00:33
Came to see me and said, "1,600 of the kids that we've sent out
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Mi disse: "1600 ragazzi sono tornati dalla guerra
00:38
have come back missing at least one full arm.
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senza almeno un braccio.
00:43
Whole arm. Shoulder disarticulation.
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Un intero braccio. Dopo la spalla, niente.
00:46
And we're doing the same thing we did for -- more or less,
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La tecnologia, in queste cose, risale più o meno
00:49
that we've done since the Civil War, a stick and a hook.
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alla Guerra Civile: un bastone e un uncino.
00:52
And they deserve more than that."
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E questi ragazzi meritano di più."
00:56
And literally, this guy sat in my office in New Hampshire and said,
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Si siede, nel mio ufficio del New Hampshire, e mi dice testualmente:
01:00
"I want you to give me something that we can put on these kids
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”Voglio che tu mi dia qualcosa da applicare su questi ragazzi
01:03
that'll pick up a raisin or a grape off a table,
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che permetta loro di cogliere un acino d'uva, o un'uvetta, dal tavolo,
01:08
they'll be able to put it in their mouth without destroying either one,
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di metterseli in bocca senza romperli,
01:12
and they'll be able to know the difference without looking at it."
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e di cogliere la differenza tra i due senza vederli."
01:15
You know, had efferent, afferent, and haptic response.
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Insomma, afferenti, efferenti, risposta aptica.
01:20
He finishes explaining that, and I'm waiting for the big 300 pound paper proposal,
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Mentre parla, aspetto che tiri fuori la solita tonnellata di carta in dettagli tecnici,
01:25
and he said, "That's what I want from you."
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ma lui mi dice solo: "Questo è quanto".
01:28
I said, "Look, you're nuts. That technology's just not available right now.
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Gli rispondo: "Senta.. VOI SIETE PAZZI!" Non è ancora disponibile una tecnologia simile.
01:35
And it can't be done.
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E non è fattibile!
01:37
Not in an envelope of a human arm,
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Non nello spazio di un braccio umano, almeno,
01:40
with 21 degrees of freedom, from your shoulder to your fingertips."
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con 21 gradi di libertà, dalla spalla ai polpastrelli.
01:45
He said, "About two dozen of these 1,600 kids have come back bilateral.
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Mi rispose: "Circa venticinque di loro hanno perso entrambe le braccia.
01:53
You think it's bad to lose one arm?
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Pensiamo che sia
01:54
That's an inconvenience compared to having both of them gone."
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un dramma perdere un braccio. È un'inezia, rispetto al perderle entrambe."
02:02
I got a day job,
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Ma io già scoppio di lavoro, durante il giorno,
02:04
and my nights and weekends are already filled up with things like,
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e in più passo notti e weekend su cose come
02:06
let's supply water to the world, and power to the world, and educate all the kids,
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“acqua per tutti, energia per tutti, istruzione per tutti”,
02:11
which, Chris, I will not talk about. I don't need another mission.
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tutte cose di cui non parlerò, Chris. Non mi serve un'altra missione, insomma.
02:19
I keep thinking about these kids with no arms.
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Intanto, questi ragazzi mutilati mi restano in testa.
02:23
He says to me, "We've done some work around the country.
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Lui mi dice: "Abbiamo già fatto qualcosa,
02:26
We've got some pretty amazing neurology and other people."
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abbiamo dei neurologi fantastici e anche altri specialisti."
02:30
I said, "I'll take a field trip, I'll go see what you got."
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Così dissi: "Farò un viaggio di ricerca, e vedrò quello che avete fatto finora".
02:34
Over the next month I visited lots of places, some out here, around the country,
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Il mese dopo visitai molti posti, e vidi il meglio
02:37
found the best of the best.
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che la ricerca poteva offrire.
02:39
I went down to Washington. I saw these guys, and said,
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Poi tornai a Washington, rividi questa gente, e dissi:
02:42
"I did what you asked me. I looked at what's out there.
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”Ho fatto quello che mi avete chiesto, e ho visto cosa c’è là fuori.
02:45
I still think you're nuts. But not as nuts as I thought."
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Penso ancora che siate matti. Ma non tanto matti come credevo.”
02:50
I put a team together, a little over 13 months ago,
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E dopo, poco più di 13 mesi fa, misi insieme un team
02:54
got up to 20 some-odd people.
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di venti persone bizzarre.
02:57
We said, we're going to build a device that does what he wants.
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Dichiarammo di voler costruire uno strumento che esaudisse quelle richieste.
03:00
We have 14 out of the 21 degrees of freedom;
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Raggiungiamo quattordici gradi di libertà su ventuno
03:03
you don't need the ones in the last two fingers.
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(nelle ultime due dita non sono così essenziali)
03:05
We put this thing together.
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Lo abbiamo assemblato,
03:07
A couple of weeks ago we took it down to Walter Reed,
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e un paio di settimane fa lo abbiamo portato al Walter Reed,
03:10
which is unfortunately more in the news these days.
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oggi purtroppo sotto i riflettori per tutt'altro motivo.
03:12
We showed it to a bunch of guys.
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Lo abbiamo mostrato ad un gruppo di persone.
03:14
One guy who described himself as being lucky,
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Uno di loro si definiva fortunato,
03:16
because he lost his left arm, and he's a righty.
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perché aveva perso il braccio sinistro, ed era destrimano.
03:22
He sat at a table with seven or eight of these other guys.
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Era seduto con altri sette, otto ragazzi,
03:24
Said he was lucky, because he had his good arm,
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definendosi fortunato, perché gli era rimasto il braccio buono.
03:27
and then he pushed himself back from the table. He had no legs.
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Poi si allontanò dal tavolo spingendosi con quel braccio. Era senza gambe.
03:31
These kids have attitudes that you just can't believe.
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Questi ragazzi hanno una tempra che non potete immaginare.
03:34
So I'm going to show you now, without the skin on it,
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Concludo con un filmato, di 30 secondi,
03:36
a 30-second piece, and then I'm done.
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dello strumento senza la "pelle".
03:39
But understand what you're looking at
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Sappiate che lo abbiamo fatto abbastanza piccolo
03:42
we made small enough to fit on a 50th percentile female,
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da stare nel 50esimo percentile femminile,
03:46
so that we could put it in any of these people.
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quindi ogni reduce potrebbe usarlo senza problemi.
03:50
It's going to go inside something that we use in CAT scans and
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Per la copertura, si fa una TAC o una RMI
03:53
MRIs of whatever is their good arm,
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al braccio sano, e poi
03:55
to make silicon rubber, then coat it, and paint it in 3D --
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si costruisce una copia simmetrica in gomma siliconica,
04:01
exact mirror image of their other limb.
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che viene poi verniciata.
04:04
So, you won't see all the really cool stuff that's in this series elastic set of 14 actuators,
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Ma così non vedreste la parte più esaltante, il set di 14 attuatori,
04:09
each one which has its own capability to sense temperature and pressure.
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ognuno dei quali percepisce in modo autonomo temperatura e pressione.
04:13
It also has a pneumatic cuff that holds it on,
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Ha anche un attacco pneumatico per cui
04:15
so the more they put themselves under load, the more it attaches.
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maggiore è il carico, più il braccio si attacca,
04:19
They take the load off, and it becomes, again, compliant.
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poi torna a rilassarsi quando il carico viene tolto.
04:22
I'm going to show you a guy doing a couple of simple things with this
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Vi mostro un soldato che fa due cose semplici,
04:26
that we demonstrated in Washington. Can we look at this thing?
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come nella dimostrazione fatta a Washington. Possiamo partire?
04:36
Watch the fingers grab. The thumb comes up. Wrist.
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Guardate la presa delle dita. Il pollice si solleva. Il polso.
04:42
This weighs 6.9 pounds.
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Questo braccio pesa 3,2 kg.
04:45
Going to scratch his nose.
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Può grattarsi il naso.
04:50
It's got 14 active degrees of freedom.
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Ha 14 gradi di libertà.
04:52
Now he's going to pick up a pen with his opposed thumb and index finger.
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Grazie all’indice ed al pollice opponibile, adesso prenderà un penna.
04:58
Now he's going to put that down, pick up a piece of paper,
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Adesso la rimette giù, prende un foglio di carta,
05:01
rotate all the degrees of freedom in his hand and wrist, and read it.
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lo ruota grazie ai gradi di libertà di mano e polso, e lo legge.
05:10
(Applause)
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(Applausi)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dean Kamen - InventorDean Kamen landed in the limelight with the Segway, but he has been innovating since high school, with more than 150 patents under his belt. Recent projects include portable energy and water purification for the developing world, and a prosthetic arm for maimed soldiers.
Why you should listen
Dean Kamen is an innovator, but not just of things. He hopes to revolutionize attitudes, quality of life, awareness. While an undergraduate, he developed the first portable infusion device, which delivers drug treatments that once required round-the-clock hospital care. And, through his DEKA Research and Development, which he cofounded in 1982, he developed a portable dialysis machine, a vascular stent, and the iBOT -- a motorized wheelchair that climbs stairs (Stephen Colbert took one for a spin).
Yes, he's a college dropout, but he's a huge believer in education, and in 1989 established the nonprofit FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) to inspire teenagers to pursue careers in science. FIRST sponsors lively annual competitions, where students form teams to create the best robot.
His focus now is on off-grid electricity and water purification for developing countries; another recent project, previewed at TED2007, is a prosthetic arm for maimed soldiers (read an update here). He's also working on a power source for the wonderful Think car. And, with more funding in the works, we haven't seen the last of the Segway.
Dean Kamen | Speaker | TED.com