In Medical Breakthrough, Double Amputee Moves Prosthetics with Mind (VIDEO)

A man who lost both of his arms 40 years ago was given a new lease on life after he was able to move robotic prosthetic limbs using only his mind.

The medical and technological breakthrough which promises to revolutionize the lives of millions of disable people the world over was announced by Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory.

The recipient of the state-of-the-art arms was a Colorado man named Les Baugh who lost his arms down to the shoulder after an electrical accident. The arms were not simply robotic, they were connected to his own nervous system and brain through a surgical operation.

"It's a relatively new surgical procedure that reassigns nerves that once controlled the arm and the hand," explained Johns Hopkins Trauma Surgeon Albert Chi, M.D. "By reassigning existing nerves, we can make it possible for people who have had upper-arm amputations to control their prosthetic devices by merely thinking about the action they want to perform."

The arms are part of a Johns Hopkins research program that has been worked on for more than a decade called the Revolution Prosthetics Program.

The arms took some practice to use, and Baugh had to undergo a ten day long training program where he was introduced to, and became familiar with his new arms. At the end of the program Baugh was able to complete tasks such as placing cups on high shelves.

The team of researchers working on the project was amazed by the speed with which Baugh developed a level of aptitude with the prosthetics.

"We expected him to exceed performance compared to what he might achieve with conventional systems, but the speed with which he learned motions and the number of motions he was able to control in such a short period of time was far beyond expectation," Courtney Moran, a prosthesis expert working with Baugh said.

You can watch a video of Baugh and his new arms below.