U.S. regulators recently approved sales of a prosthetic arm created by a company that was founded by Segway inventor Dean Kamen. It is the first device of its kind to respond to various simultaneous commands from the brain of the person wearing it.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has permitted marketing of the arm, called the DEKA Arm System. The arm’s movements are controlled by electrical signals sent from electromyogram (EMG) electrodes.

According to the FDA, up to 10 movements can be detected by the limb, which is similar to a natural human arm in terms of shape and weight.

Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement, “This innovative prosthesis provides a new option for people with certain kinds of arm amputations.” She continued, “The DEKA Arm System may allow some people to perform more complex tasks than they can with current prostheses in a way that more closely resembles the natural motion of the arm.”

The arm was developed with financial assistance from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office. The arm was nicknamed “Luke” after the famous Star Wars character, Luke Skywalker, who uses a bionic hand after losing his own in a light saber battle with Darth Vader, his father.

Justin Sanchez, program manager in the agencies Biological Technologies office, said in a phone interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, “Think about our military personnel, who can be great beneficiaries of these devices: before DARPA made an investment in this area the best we could give back to them was metal hooks.” He added, “This is a landmark moment for DARPA as an agency.”