prothesis
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Subretinal implant uses light instead of batteries, shows promise in initial testing
There's been significant progress in bringing sight to the blind in recent years, and this looks set to continue that miraculous trend. Scientists at Stanford University have invented a subretinal photodiode implant for people who have lost their vision due to degenerative retinal diseases. Existing tech involves batteries and wires, but the new implant works without such crude appendages. Instead, it's activated by near-infrared beams projected by a camera that's mounted on glasses worn by the patient and can record what the patient sees. The beams then stimulate the optic nerve to allow light perception, motion detection and even basic shape awareness. It hasn't actually been tested with humans just yet, but the first few rodents volunteers have yet to lodge a single complaint.
BBC shows us what it's like to live with a bionic hand
We've posted a fair share on bionic limbs and their advancements over the years, but rarely have we had the chance to see a video of one in real world use, on a real person. The BBC has shared a video of a man named Patrick using his bionic arm, which -- long story short -- was partially the result of being electrocuted at work. This is his second one to date and specifically, it's a prototype Otto Bock mind-controlled prosthetic arm equipped with six nerve sensors that let him use the hand as if it were his own -- it supports pinching and gripping with the fingers as well as lateral and circular movement of the wrist. Although the footage is a mundane roll of various day to day tasks -- gripping a bottle to pour a glass of water for instance -- it's quite amazing to realize technology is helping him do things he'd otherwise be deprived of. We'd suggest checking it out at the BBC by clicking the source link below.
DARPA-funded bionic arm gets second prototype
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, no strangers to reaching for seemingly unattainable goals in medical science, have set their sights on what some consider to be the ultimate pursuit of modern prosthetics: a bionic arm that moves, looks and feels like its human counterpart. And they want to do it by 2009. An earlier prototype of the arm, the Proto 1, was shown in April of this year, and now the team of scientists is scrambling to ready the arm's second iteration, the Proto 2, in time to show it off this week at the 25th Darpa Systems and Technology Symposium (where it will likely be joined by Dean Kamen's Darpa funded bionic arm). Researchers hope that the prothesis, which is currently controlled by skin-surface-attached myoelectric sensors, can be made more intuitive by adding injectable sensors, which send increased amounts of signals (and have improved clarity) allowing for greater control of the arm. In time, the team hopes to move to nerve-attached electrodes, or electrode arrays implanted on the brain, which will eventually allow for full user dexterity.[Via Wired]
