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Bionic thumb allows McHenry man to 'do fantastic things'

Posted November 30, 2015 10:00 pm

The Associated Press

FOX LAKE, Ill. (AP) - A bionic thumb has brought back a large part of life for a McHenry man.

Adam "Moose" Pringle lost his left thumb in September 2011 when he caught his right arm and left hand in an asphalt-crushing machine.

The (Lake County) News-Sun reports (http://trib.in/1LJeR5S ) that last week, Pringle and therapist Michelle Perry Shamash of Dynamic Hand Therapy in Fox Lake traveled to Columbus, Ohio. Pringle was fitted for a bionic thumb at Touch Bionics.

Pringle says he's "been able to do fantastic things in a short period of time."

Electrodes in the battery-powered device sense muscle movements and enable him to move the thumb. He can grasp things with the appropriate amount of pressure.

He has returned to household chores and hopes to take up golf.

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Information from: Lake County News-Sun, http://newssun.chicagotribune.com/

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