We've seen initiatives all over the globe created in an attempt to beat blindness, but researchers based at MIT are feeling fairly confident that their development is within a few years of being able to "restore partial sight to people who have slowly gone blind because of degenerative diseases of the retina." The bio-electronic implant, which is about the size of a pencil eraser, would actually sit behind the retina at the back of the eyeball, and images would be transmitted to the brain "via a connector the width of a human hair." As it stands, an FDA grant application is already in the works, and the scientists are hoping to have it implanted in an animal as early as this summer. Still, the solution only works for folks who "were once able to see and have partially intact optic nerve cells" -- those who were blind from birth or suffer from glaucoma are unfortunately ineligible for the procedure.

[Thanks, Rusty]

Apparently somewhere along the way Dean Kamen's robo-prosthestesis came to be called the Luke arm (care to guess why?), and according to the IEEE Spectrum blog, it's gearing up to undergo Food and Drug Administration trials pending DARPA's final thumbs-up, which would put the project in motion. Be sure to check out the rest of the profile of the arm's development, which is well worth the read.

Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter, has been denied a shot at the Olympics... for being too fast. The runner -- who uses carbon-fiber, prosthetic feet -- was reviewed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (or IAAF), a review which found the combination of man and machine to be too much for its purely human competitors. According to the IAAF report, the "mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30-percent." Additionally, Pistorius uses 25-percent less energy than average runners due to the artificial limbs, therefore giving him an unfair advantage on the track... or so they say. Oscar is expected to appeal the decision, saying a lack of variables explored by the single scientific study calls for deeper investigation into the matter. Our suggestion? Prosthetic legs for all!

[Via Medgadget]

It's been a while since we last heard about a dolphin getting fitted with an artificial tail, but it looks like Fuji finally has some new bionic company, with Winter the dolphin now starting to get used to a prosthetic tail of its own. Unlike Fuji, Winter lost her both her tail flukes and her peduncle, which posed additional problems for the team of researchers that developed the tail, ultimately requiring them to "MacGyver" one as they went along (a term the researchers themselves used to describe it). While it's apparently not perfected just yet, Winter has started to learn to swim with a prosthetic sleeve, which will eventually be outfitted with artificial tail flukes that could allow it to keep pace with other dolphins. In addition to helping Winter, the researchers behind the tail say that the lessons learned from it could also help human amputees, with the gel sleeve used to hold the tail into place apparently already adapted for use with a human prosthesis.

[Photo courtesy of AP]

Touch Bionics, a UK-based prothesis developer, announced today that its i-LIMB bionic hand has been made available for use in the United States and Europe. The i-LIMB is one the first widely available prosthetic hands with five individually powered digits, affording its user a surprisingly wide range of motion. Additionally, the i-LIMB uses dynamic touch detection which can sense when a finger has sufficient grip on on object and stop powering, useful in situations such as holding someone's hand, where too much power can cause, er, problems. Using electric signals generated by working muscles to control the hand, the device is much like traditional myoelectric prosthetics (the signals are sent from electrodes placed on the skin). Touch Bionics has also developed a "groundbreaking" form of cosmesis, a latex sheath which covers the hand that TB claims gives an incredibly realistic appearance. Check the gallery to see for yourself.

[Thanks, Matt]

Years back, scientists at the University of Bonn reckoned a visual implant would cure blindness, but unfortunately, the results were less than positive. While many alternatives have surfaced in the meantime, gurus at the institution are hitting back yet again with another option of their own, as the researchers introduced a software system that enables visual prosthesis to "learn" how to interpret sights in a way that the brain can understand -- something the original implementation had difficultly accomplishing. Essentially, an artificial retina "must learn to generate signals that are useful for the brain," and while the group's software should assist users with "flexible" central visual systems to garner new abilities in sight, they warn against "expecting miracles" too soon.

[Via MedGadget]