An article in The Globe And Mail written by Shafiq Qaadri surveys the progress in developing a large number of kinds of artificial implants for the human body:
By Randall Parker at 2002 November 05 11:43 AM Cyborg TechBut the next level of integration is bionics (bio-mechanics), in which the body talks to the machine, actually giving the artificial part its cue to function. Dextra is a prosthetic hand, which was developed at Rutgers University, and is one of the first artificial limbs to use a person's own nerves to feed electricity to the machine's fingers.
"Communication is key," says Dr. William Craelius, the biomedical engineer who developed Dextra. "Human-machine communication could soon lose its distinction as the No. 1 obstacle to bionics." With a seamless human-to-device connection, Dextra patients have such natural control that they can type and play the piano.
With the development of synthetic muscle, entire joints need not be replaced, but select muscles can be restored.
So far, scientists at the Artificial Muscle Research Institute at the University of New Mexico hope to help people who have lost muscle function. But as the technology progresses, researchers could also reinforce existing muscles, perhaps inserting muscles into new locations, leading to entirely new movements and power.
As the need for implants increases, the supply is very low at this date and time. This would be a great achievement to our nation, if bionic technology could produce ways of replacing parts of the human anatomy. This would also be a true blessing for those who tragically lost a limb or due to some unfortunate reason were born with a defective part of their body. The possibilities are endless. Since the human body itself generates electricity, and the nerves that run throughout the body act as wires attached to a generator, this possibility is REAL!
Therefore, like every other way man has developed techniques to insure his survival and this is definitely a step in the right direction
As the need for implants increases, the supply is very low at this date and time. This would be a great achievement to our nation, if bionic technology could produce ways of replacing parts of the human anatomy. This would also be a true blessing for those who tragically lost a limb or due to some unfortunate reason were born with a defective part of their body. The possibilities are endless. Since the human body itself generates electricity, and the nerves that run throughout the body act as wires attached to a generator, this possibility is REAL!
Therefore, like every other way man has developed techniques to insure his survival and this is definitely a step in the right direction.