Gentlemen, we can rebuild him (nearly)

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.

The words were heard in the opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man, a 1970s TV icon who bent steel doors and leapt 30ft walls.

Now, scientists have revealed they really do have the technology. And the fictional process that turned Col Steve Austin into a bionic man could soon become reality.

While researchers do not promise to create super-men, they are developing bionic limbs which can be moved by the power of thought alone. Human trials have just begun. If they are successful, the hi- tech prosthetics could become commonplace within five years.

Scientists around the world are competing to be the first to develop the first fully-functioning limbs, wired directly into the nervous system of the wearer. Crude prototypes have been completed and researchers say it is now simply a matter of time.

'A large part of it is just putting the pieces together,' said Ronald Rido, a prosthetics pioneer from Aalborg University in Denmark. He told New Scientist magazine that, as well as moving naturally, the limbs will also provide realistic sensations such as touch, vibration and grip. They work through microelectrodes connected to the nervous system.

When a user wants to move a limb, signals are sent via a small radio transmitter implanted under the skin. Each finger or toe will have its own motor to allow independent movement and touch sensors to detect contact.

Scientists claim the bionic hands will have enough dexterity to use a pair of scissors. They will not be able to mimic the real thing exactly, since they have tens of sensors compared to the thousands in the human hand. But they could go a long way to restore feeling.

The technology represents a big leap forward in prosthetic science. Although great advances have been made in prosthetics in recent years, many patients do not wear their replacement limbs because they are ineffective, cumbersome or ugly.

There are about 65,000 limbless people in Britain.