A man who lost his left hand in an accident three years ago has been fitted with the world’s most sophisticated prosthetic limb.

Evan Reynolds, 19, took only minutes to learn how to manipulate the i-LIMB, which is operated by tiny sensors resting against his arm muscles.

With his new hand he can now pick up a paper cup filled with water, peel a carrot or walk down the street eating crisps, all activities he could only dream about before.

The £10,000 i-LIMB was developed by the Scottish company Touch Bionics and Mr Reynolds is only the second Briton to be fitted with one. Unlike previous prosthetics, the hand can tell how tightly it is gripping, allowing the user a large degree of control.

Mr Reynolds, a sports biology student at University of the West of England (UWE), was in a friend’s car hanging his hand out of the window when it was taken off by a wooden gate post. His life was saved by his quick-thinking friends who applied a tourniquet and stopped him bleeding to death but the accident wrecked his dreams of going to Sandhurst and joining the British Army.

The i-LIMB was introduced in 2007 and has won awards for its innovative technology. About 450 people, most in America, have been fitted with the prosthetic hand so far. Mr Reynolds has been given him a new lease of life by his hand, which is a year old in February.

He said: “The accident was very nasty. My hand was amputated in a second.

"I always wanted to join the Army, that was what I wanted to do with my life, I dreamt of going to Sandhurst. Obviously I couldn't join the Army any more, I was devastated.

"After the accident I'd resigned myself to never being able to use it again. But it truly has changed my life. It truly is incredible.”

Each finger of the i-LIMB is controlled by its own individual motors allowing a much more sensitive grip than previous prosthetics, which were limited to a claw-like action. It is fitted to the stump with a socket that contains the rechargeable battery and sensors that detect myoelectric currents in the muscles which would have controlled the hand.

Mr Reynolds said: ''It's the little things, like being able to peel a carrot, butter bread or walk down the street eating a bag of crisps.

''It's so sensitive I can grip a bottle of water or a paper cup without crushing it and even swing a racket.

''All I have to do is imagine picking something up or gripping it and the fingers and thumb move automatically.

“The most amazing thing about it was how quickly I adapted to it. I put it on and within minutes I was using it as well as I can today."

The injury has not stopped him playing rugby, but he makes sure he takes off the i-LIMB before a game for fear of damaging it.

He said: "I love sport, I still play rugby, I still play squash, but I take the i-LIMB off first."

Time Magazine named the i-Limb as one of the Top 50 inventions of 2008 and Touch Bionics won the Limbless Association's Prosthetic Product Innovation Award for 2008 for the product.

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