It was the stuff of science fiction. As Mr Campbell Aird lifted his right arm for the first time in more than 16 years last week the faint whirr of electric motors could be heard from underneath his shirt.
Beneath his tartan sleeve and under the synthetic skin, a system of wheels and motors powered the carbon-fibre arm and hand he held out to be shaken. The 47year-old hotelier is the proud owner of what has been predictably dubbed the world's first bionic arm.
The lightweight arm, the culmination of around 12 years' work by prosthetic specialists at Edinburgh's Princess Margaret Rose hospital, is the first to contain a motorised shoulder, bending elbow, rotating wrists and contracting fingers. The sophisticated mechanics are clothed by a latex skin so life-like that it comes with wrinkles and fingerprints.
Mr Aird, from Dumfriesshire, Scotland, moves the electric arm by pressing tiny microsensors and microswitches at the top of the arm using residual movement he has left in his shoulder. These microsensors send out electrical pulses which control the system of gears and motors in the arm.
In time, specialists hope, pressing the sensors will become so natural that his brain will associate moving a finger with a twitch in his shoulder - he will move the arm without conscious thought.
"I have already tried a less sophisticated version and if you ask me which buttons I pressed to move it, I'd have no idea.
"It becomes so natural that I can do things like tying shoelaces and hammering nails without even thinking," said Mr Aird.
Mr David Gow, the scientist who led the research to develop the Edinburgh Modular Arm System, says that, after it has been "road tested" by Mr Aird, it could be available on the British National Health Service within two years.
"We have some commercial interest from a British company and it usually takes 18 months to get these into production. There is no reason why we could not see it on the NHS shortly after that," said Mr Gow.
The prototype arm costs $160,000 (£131,000) to manufacture but its simple design means it could be produced for the NHS for around $16,000.
It was designed with a modular construction which means that the arm and the shoulder are the same piece. All that differs is the power of the motor. This allows the arm to be easily adapted to fit both children and adults.
Mr Aird lost his arm to cancer a few years ago and since then he says he has set out to prove to other amputees that it is possible to live a normal life after the loss of a limb.
"In 1987 I windsurfed across the English Channel. I have won 12 trophies for shooting. Basically, I've tried water and I've tried land, so now I'm going to do air - I booked myself some paragliding lessons for next week," he said.
It will be a few years before the technology in the arm - which is roughly half the weight of a natural arm - is refined enough for the specialists to attempt treating a bionic leg. But the concept is not out of the question.
"A person who has lost an arm can do around 90 per cent of the things someone with full use of both arms can do. This arm will lower that gap considerably. With a leg the differential is much larger and the limb is more complex. However, if we get funding, I think we could do it," said Mr Gow.
