PSYONIC, featured on Fox Illinois, changing world views on prosthetics

After Cody Conrady was in an accident where he lost his arm about half a year ago, he saw someone with PSYONIC’s bionic arm in a restaurant and knew he needed a prosthetic arm to keep up with his active lifestyle. “I need something waterproof and durable because I live and work on a farm,” Conrady said. 

PSYONIC is a startup that was launched in 2015 at EnterpriseWorks of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The start-up’s goal is to change the way that people with prosthetic limbs are navigating their way through life including individuals such as Conrady. The company’s mission is to deliver advanced, neurally controlled prosthetics that are more advanced and more affordable than other state-of-the-art prosthesis that are currently available on the market.

University of Illinois alum and PSYONIC CEO and Founder Dr. Aadeel Akhtar says these arms are for teens and adults who have lost hands above the wrist or higher and will work with elbows and shoulders made by other companies. It’s also reportedly the fastest hand on the market and gives sensory feedback. It can do things most hands can do like catching, picking something up, pointing or shaking hands. You can even charge your phone from it.

“Whenever our patients actually grab something they can actually feel it,” Akhtar says. “So one of our first patients was a U.S. Army Sergeant and lost his hand in Iraq. When he holds his daughter’s hand he actually knew he was holding it and that’s something he couldn’t do with any other prosthetic hand.”

PSYONIC is making a big difference in the world of prosthetics that hasn’t changed much in many years. And changing things for Conrady who admits, he’s still getting used to it.

For more information about PSYONIC visit www.psyonic.co or connect with PSYONIC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. To read the full article from Fox Illinois, please click here.