In 1998-2000 when I was at the University of Utah, I had a roommate and friend, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon working on the exact same project. He was a MD (plastic surgeon), working towards a PhD in bioengineering with the goal that has just been achieved today: have a neuroprosthetics arm working for amputees! Two links to learn about it :

Bionic arm provides hope for amputees

La première femme bionique à contrôler et sentir une prothèse