An Austrian man has voluntarily had his hand amputated so he can be fitted with a bionic hand, which will be controlled by nerve signals in his own arm. He lost the use of his right hand in a motorcycle accident a decade ago.

The bionic hands, manufactured by the German prosthetics company Otto Bock, can pinch and grasp in response to signals from the brain. The wrist of the prosthesis can be rotated manually using the patient’s other functioning hand.

The patient will control the hand using the same brain signals that previously powered similar movements in the real hand and that will now be picked up by two sensors placed over the skin above nerves in the forearm.