GEND 111 Bionics Group Project

Medical products company Second Sight developed an optical prosthetic, the Argus II, to be used for those who loss their vision due to injuries or diseases. It's a wireless communication system that's implanted into the eye that will capture images and transmit it to the brain. Second Sight has received funding from the U.S federal government.

Research on placing microelectrodes on top of the brain instead of being implanted. Useful for people with paralysis.

Researchers have successfully reconstructed 3-D hand motions from brain signals recorded in a non-invasive way, according to a study in the March 3 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. This finding uses a technique that may open new doors for portable brain-computer interface systems that can be an advantage for people with disabilities or paralysis.

The ProDigits is a bionic fingers prosthetic developed by Touch Bionics out of Livingston, West Lothian. The device fits over the palm of a person's hand where loss fingers are.

Touch Bionics' i-LIMB was considered one of the top 50 inventions of 2008 in Time Magazine. The i-LIMB has five separately powered digits control by myoelectrics and powered by a lithium-ion battery.

Researchers in the article are developing a way to process 'wet' computer systems, which is another way of saying biological computers. The technology is being developed at the University of Southampton and is funded by the European Union's Future and Emerging technologies Initiative. They are working on this project since they believe the best information processes is within our brain and are accomplishing this by using lipid water droplets. The article does not indicate that it's in a peer reviewed journal. The project will run for several years.

Neuroscientists demonstrated that using brain waves to type characters on a computer is possible. The research is occurring at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, with collaboration from the University of North Florida with several patients with epilepsy. The project is being funded by the National Science Foundation and is still ongoing. Some of the applications it can have is that it would allow paralyzed individuals to send words out to screens, even though they are unable to speak or move.

What's being study in this article are amputees having the capability to control a robotic arm by rearranging the nerves where the lost limb was. The patients were capable of mimicking hand movements, motions, and picking up different items like a glass, cracker, and a checker rolling on a table. The results were described in Journal of the American Medical Association.

The article is about a new device, invented by a team of top European Union researchers at the Tel Aviv University, called the SmartHand. The purpose of the SmartHand is to function as a replacement hand, in the event an individual were to lose their hand. The Hand functions by wiring itself into the nerve endings of the patient. The first human subject to try the Smart Hand, Robin af Ekenstam of Sweden, comments that he can 'feel' his fingers, hinting that it feels somewhat natural. Some of the applications of the device can allow the user to eat by themselves as well as write with that hand. A challenge that the scientists will commit to now is to improve control between the brain and the hand, as well as give it artificial skin to hide the bionic look. The project is funded by the E.U. Sixth Framework.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009, September 24). Stimulating Sight: Retinal Implant Could Help Restore Useful Level Of Vision To Certain Groups Of Blind People. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 25, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2009/09/090923173952.htm The article is about the use of a retinal implant that could restore an individual vision so that they can identify the type of environment they are in. Researchers at MIT are inspired by the cochlear implants success to create an implant that could restore a blind person's vision so that they can identify objects. The research is done by a team of scientists, engineers, and ophthalmologists from MIT, Boston VA Med Center, Cornell, and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The implant involved placing the implant to the outside of the eye and electrodes within the eye to do less damage. Researchers have developed several working prototypes and used them on pigs for almost a year, although final adjustments need to be made. Scientists are hopeful that human trials can begin so that patients can offer live and understandable feedback to them, so that the algorithm used within the implants can be configured properly.

It is called SmartHand and uses myoelectrial signals in the form of electrodes to move the motors in the prosthetic hand. The SmartHand is unique because of the sensory feedback the amputee is receiving. There are sensors on each finger that communicate with the muscles in the forearm which stimulate the brain to move the fingers of the prosthetic hand. The article discusses that the ultimate goal of SmartHand is to attach a neural network connection directly to the artificial hand through sensors.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have successfully implanted a device in a monkey, giving it control to move a mechanical arm with its brain. This technology could assist disabled people and help them to live a normal life. Oscar Pistorius uses carbon fiber-composite legs and is one of the fastest athletes in the world. He wanted to participate in the Beijing Olympics but was rejected because the bionic prosthetics apparently gave him an advantage over normal athletes. This poses one ethical issue if bionics become mainstream. People might decide to get rid of their human legs and replace them with these for an advantage.