Children surround Amanda Kitts as she comes into the classroom. She bends over to talk wit a small girl. As she bends, Kitts puts her hands on her knees. For most people, this wouldn't be extraordinary. However, just a few years ago, this was impossible for Kitts.
In 2006, Kitts-who runs a day-care center-was in a car accident. A truck crushed her arm. "I was angry, sad, depressed. I just couldn't accept it," she says. But then she heard about a new technique that could use the remaining nerves in her shoulder to control an artificial arm.
In a difficult operation, a surgeon moved Kitts's nerves to difficult areas of her upper-arm muscles. For month, the nerves grew. Millimeter by millimeter, they moved deeper into their new homes. "At three month I started feeling little tingles and twitches," she said. A month later, she got her first bionic arm. A research engineer worked with Kitts to make the computer programs match her real movements more and more closely.
Today, Kitts's arm is great, but It's not yet perfect. She wants feeling in her hands. For example, she needs to feel weather something is rough or smooth. She also needs feeling to do one of her favorite things-drink coffee. "The problem with a paper coffee cup is that my hand will close until it gets a solid grip,' she say. One time at a coffee shop, her hand kept closing until in crushed the cup. But Kitts say positively, "One time at a coffee shop, her hand kept closing until is crushed the cup. But Kitts says positively, "One day I'll be able to feel things with it and clap my hands to the songs my kids are singing.