Jesse Sullivan, World's First Bionic Man

Being the first recipient of a bionic arm, Jesse Sullivan is the world's first bionic man. He lost his arm when an accident happen while working as a high-power electrical lineman. The accident caused his two arms. With a bionic arm from the innovative "Bionic" research at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Jesse, is able to do things he couldn't do after the accident.


Developed within the Neural Engineering Center for Artificial Limbs (NECAL) at RIC, Todd Kuiken, MD, PhD, pioneered the muscle reinnervation procedure which takes an amputee's own nerves and connects them to a healthy muscle. In this case, four of Mr. Sullivan's nerves were dissected from the shoulder and transferred to the muscles of his chest. Doing so allows the user to move his or her prosthetic arm as if it were a real limb – by simply thinking about what they want the arm to do. The "Bionic Arm," or myoelectric arm, is driven using electrical signals from the muscles of the chest, now activated by the user's own thought-generated nerve impulses. These impulses are sensed, via surface electrodes, from the pectoral muscle and carried through to the mechanical arm, causing the arm to move.