"A computer programmer from Finland who lost his ring finger in a motorcycle accident has had it replaced with a USB drive.
Jerry Jalava has built a special prosthetic finger which contains computer storage for photos, movies and other useful files.
While the prosthetic looks like a normal finger Mr Jalava can peel it back from the ‘nail’ and plug it into the USB slot on his computer using it as an additional hard drive.
The software developer from Helsinki lost his finger last summer after crashing his one week old Ducati Monster 696 motorbike.
He was rushed to Helsinki Hospital where he was examined by a hand surgeon who said they were unable to save it and amputated half of the finger.
When Mr Jalava told doctors what he did for a living they joked he should have a USB ‘finger drive’ but that was good enough for him, and he set about making one.
Using a traditional prosthetic finger Mr Jalava has been able embed a ‘USB key’ - like the ones used in traditional flash drives - giving him the world’s only two gigabyte finger.
The finger is not permanently attached to his hand meaning it can be removed when plugged into a computer.
“It is not attached permanently in to my body, it is a removable prosthetic which has USB memorystick inside it,“ Mr Jalava said.
“When I’m using the USB, I just leave my finger inside the slot and pick it up after I’m ready.“
Mr Jalava said he is already thinking about upgrading his faux finger to include more storage and wireless technology.
“I’m planning to use anther prosthetic as a shell for the next version, which will have removable fingertip and an RFID tag,“ he added. "
source
Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:12 pm
