8-year-old Texan girl uses her bionic hand for first time

Mady’s mother told Reuters that although she never worried about her "super awesome" daughter.

AUSTIN (Reuters) - Born without her left arm below the elbow, 8-year-old Madeline "Mady" Gardner nevertheless enjoys playing flag football on the same team as her little brother Jackson, skiing and doing gymnastics. But there are a few things she struggles with, like putting her hair into a ponytail, reading books, playing golf and riding her bike.

The sleek prosthetic would not be out of place on a superhero like Iron Man, though - by her request - Mady’s bionic arm is bright pink.

Developed by British company Open Bionics, which recently launched in the U.S., the "Hero Arm" is billed as the world’s first multi-grip bionic arm forchildren as young as 8-years-old.

Mady, who lives in Austin, Texas, is currently the youngest person in the U.S. to receive one. She quickly got to grips with the device and learnt how to switch between grips to hold a baseball and wave, as well as doing other simple things that she’s never been able to do before with just one natural hand.

"My favourite thing was to make a heart out of two hands," Mady said. "I look forward to ride my bike and golf with my dad," she added.

Fitting Mady’s bionic arm took under a minute. A specialist from Hanger Clinic, Open Bionic’s U.S. partner, showed Mady how to place her residual limb in the prosthetic and tighten it using a twistable knob on the side.

Pressing an illuminated button on the back of the hand switches it on. When Mady flexes muscles in her residual limb just below her elbow, sensors detect tiny electric signals and convert them into bionic hand movements. It’s controlled by tensing the same muscles which are used to open and close a biological hand, with Mady receiving haptic feedback from the device.

Mady’s mother told Reuters that although she never worried about her "super awesome" daughter, there are certain things with which Mady has had difficulty. Her new bionic arm will not only help her perform more dexterous tasks but will give Mady a semblance of anonymity.

"She’ll be able to blend in more and that might sound a little strange, but as a parent sometimes seeing the attention and the questions, the continuous questions, some days she doesn’t want the questions," explained Mindy Gardner.

"This will be a way for her to have a bit more anonymity and just do things in a different way. So we’re super excited about that," she added.

Each Hero Arm is custom-made in Bristol, England using technologies including 3D printing and 3D scanning. The outer shell can be custom-made to the wearer’s liking with different colours and patterns worked into the design.

Open Bionics says the prosthetic is less than half the price of its nearest competitor - at around $20,000 for the device and fitting - and is covered by healthcare systems in major western countries, such as the UK, U.S., Germany and France.