British company Touch Bionics has created the world's first powered bionic fingers that can be used by patients with missing fingers.

ProDigits, as the device is called, can help its users bend, touch, pick up and point – reflecting almost all the key functions of a natural hand. The prosthetic fingers are for those who have a partial hand, where the absence of fingers is due either to congenital anomalies or to amputation, says Touch Bionics.

Maria Iglesias, a former concert pianist from Spain, is among the first patients to get the custom-made mechanical fingers. The bionic fingers cost between $57,000 and $73,000. Touch Bionics already has a prosthetic arm called i-LIMB that has become a part of more than 3,000 patients.

Advanced prosthetic arms are an active area of research, as scientists and doctors try to find ways to replicate the functionality of the human arm. The human hand is difficult to create artificially, because it is not just about movement. The hand also offers feedback about the texture and nature of the object. Conventional prosthetic arms have been little more than hooks with fingers that are fused together.

Touch Bionic's ProDigits fingers help solve one part of the problem. For some patients, not having fingers or opposable thumbs makes small tasks such as holding a fork or a cup difficult and frustrating. ProDigits' artificial fingers can wiggle independently or come together to form a fist.

Each of the bionic fingers is custom-built. The sockets are designed and fabricated to suit each patient's specific needs, says the company.

ProDigits are activated either by myoelectric sensors that register muscle signals from the residual finger or palm, or by a pressure-sensitive switch input in the form of a touchpad. The fingers also have a feature that detects when they have closed around an object.

As the video shows, the degree of flexibility that the ProDigits offers is amazing.

For more on prosthetic arms, see our photo gallery featuring prototypes such as a thought-controlled prosthetic arm and an arm powered by a miniature rocket motor.

Photo: Touch Bionics