--- title: Robotics: Mind-Controlled Robot Hands Fitted to Austrian Patients description: Austrian scientists hail bionic breakthrough with innovative prosthesis controlled with the mind. canonical: https://time.com/3721653/bionic-amputee-breakthrough-neuroscience-austria/ author: David Stout article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-25T06:51:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:41:30.279Z article:section: Health og:title: 3 Men in Austria Just Became Cyborgs og:description: Scientists fit mind-controlled robotic hands to amputees og:url: https://time.com/3721653/bionic-amputee-breakthrough-neuroscience-austria/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 3 Men in Austria Just Became Cyborgs twitter:description: Scientists fit mind-controlled robotic hands to amputees twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Three Guys in Austria Have Basically Become Cyborgs After Getting Robotic Hands > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Feb 25, 2015 6:51 AM UTC by [David Stout](https://time.com/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Feb 25, 2015 6:51 AM UTC Robotic hands have been successfully [attached](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150224192618.htm) to three amputees in Austria, using a new technique that allows the users to control their electronic limbs with their minds. The operations were completed by using an innovative procedure called bionic reconstruction, which connects prostheses directly to a patient’s nerves, according to a [study](http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2814%2961776-1/abstract) in British medical journal _The Lancet_. The procedure first involves intense cognitive training to prepare the body and mind for the advanced robotic prosthesis, followed by elective amputation and replacement. Once attached, the bionic hand allows all three patients to perform everyday activities, like using kitchen utensils and opening doors. “So far, bionic reconstruction has only been done in our center in Vienna,” said Professor Oskar Aszmann from the Medical University of Vienna. “However, there are no technical or surgical limitations that would prevent this procedure from being done in centers with similar expertise and resources.” \[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150224192618.htm)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3721653/bionic-amputee-breakthrough-neuroscience-austria/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3721653/bionic-amputee-breakthrough-neuroscience-austria/"},"headline":"Three Guys in Austria Have Basically Become Cyborgs After Getting Robotic Hands","datePublished":"2015-02-25T06:51:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:41:30.279Z","description":"The bionic hand allows the patients to perform everyday activities","url":"https://time.com/3721653/bionic-amputee-breakthrough-neuroscience-austria/","keywords":["Neuroscience","Austria","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/neuroscience/","name":"Neuroscience"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3721653/bionic-amputee-breakthrough-neuroscience-austria/","name":"Three Guys in Austria Have Basically Become Cyborgs After Getting Robotic Hands"}}]}] ```