PSYONIC

PSYONIC is a bionic technology company whose product, the Ability Hand, is a multi-articulated prosthetic hand with integrated touch sensing. The hand detects pressure during grip and relays vibration feedback to the user's arm, and it uses patented motor control and sensory feedback. It weighs 490 grams, is rated IP64 for spill and splash resistance, charges over USB-C in roughly an hour for an estimated 6-8 hours of use, and its fingers are designed to absorb blunt-force impact. The company offers 32 grip patterns, of which 19 were pre-defined and available at the time of publication, and the hand is cross-compatible with most third-party control systems including EMG pattern recognition, EMG direct control, linear transducers and force-sensitive resistors. The company states the hand closes in about 200 milliseconds and is over twice as fast as other bionic hands on the market.

A second line of business targets robotics and industrial automation. The same hardware is offered with torque, velocity and position control across six brushless DC motors, streaming of six encoder values and 30 touch-sensor values over BLE, I2C, UART or RS485, and an open API plus datasheet and spec sheet for integration with existing robotics platforms. The company also states it is exploring a bionic leg, artificial tendons, additional sensory-feedback methods, and software for biointegrated technologies.

PSYONIC says the Ability Hand is made in the United States and that the design was specifically targeted for Medicare coverage, on the basis that Medicare-covered prosthetic devices are generally covered by most private insurers; the Research Park profile states it is covered by US insurers with no out-of-pocket cost to users and describes it as the only multi-grip bionic hand made in the USA.

Founding story

PSYONIC was founded in 2015 by Aadeel Akhtar, who holds a PhD in Neuroscience and an MS in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2016), plus a BS in Biology (2007) and MS in Computer Science (2008) from Loyola University Chicago. Akhtar has said he was inspired to build advanced, affordable prosthetic devices after visiting Pakistan at age seven and meeting a child his age with a limb difference.

Business model

PSYONIC sells the Ability Hand as hardware to two customer groups: prosthetic users, where the device is priced and designed for reimbursement under Medicare and, by extension, most private insurance; and robotics and research buyers, who purchase the hand as an end effector with an open API. The company reports revenue of $1,655,166 in its most recent fiscal year against $652,789 the prior year, with net income of $75,758 versus a prior-year loss of $441,251.

Product sales of the Ability Hand, with prosthetic-side revenue tied to insurance reimbursement (Medicare and private insurers) and a robotics/research channel selling the hand for integration into automation and brain-machine-interface systems.

Traction

The Ability Hand launched nationally in 2021 and is used by people with upper-limb differences across the United States as well as by robotics researchers; NASA, Meta and Apptronik are cited as clients. Revenue grew from $652,789 to $1,655,166 year over year, with the company reporting net income of $75,758 in the most recent fiscal year. The StartEngine crowdfunding round attracted more than 1,600 investors and closed with $3.1 million raised. The hand has been featured on CBS's 60 Minutes being controlled via a brain implant, and reviewed by Marques Brownlee.

Latest developments

A Regulation Crowdfunding offering on StartEngine priced at $2.43 per share against a stated $65.07 million valuation, with a funding goal range of $10,000 to $2.74 million for Class B Common Non-Voting shares, had a deadline of April 30, 2024; the company announced the round had passed $2.4 million before closing, and a subsequent company post reported $3.1 million raised at close. PSYONIC has also expanded its robotics offering for high-cycle industrial environments and is exploring a bionic leg, artificial tendons, new sensory-feedback methods, and supporting software.