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"This is an innovative technique which is going to bring a great advance,"

Here's a proof of how technology is increasing. Who would think, lots of years ago, that such thing would be possible. This technique consists of "implanting a microchip into the human brain to translate the nerve pulses into electric pulses, making it possible for the patient to move robotic prosthetics" which means that technoogy has increase to the point that even microchip's can by implanted in order to be able to move robotic prosthetics! Would this mean than in unknown years time, our body will be taken over by robotic implants, therefore humans would be taken over by robots? Yet, despite that, this is a great advantage for people who don't have arms or have arm problems, with this, they will be able to do what they always wanted with their robotic arm just like normal people!

I do not think that "humans would be taken over by robots". As long as we keep our emotions and all the other things that makes us human, we will not become robots. Anyway. This is a great leap forward in prosthetic and one, if successful, will help a great many people. It is going to take time to perfect though, at the moment I doubt they are able to do this without bugs. Here is a link to a duke article on "Monkey Adapt Robot Arm as Their Own" http://today.duke.edu/2005/05/monkeyrobot.html

"A new ultrasound device could make it easier to detect a potentially life-threatening condition". An excellent example of data-logging applied to a practical real-life situation.

The invention of this device will drastically improve the monitoring of brain related injuries and in particular the one mentioned in the article - vasospasm. The fact that nearly 50% of soldiers who sustain blast injuries can potentially develop vasospasm is more than enough reason for there to be plenty of funding towards the development of this device. It says in the article that "the company plans to make a more rugged version of its commercial device for the battle field." If the company manages to actually develop this, the amount of soldier deaths in the battle field will decrease as the soldiers will be able to get treatment sooner. Within this development the company could have the data be live streamed to the doctors so that they can analyze the data to see if there is any problem. The data can then be stored so that the patient's development can be recorded. As the device is measuring the blood flow in the brain this could also be used to analyze the soldiers brain whilst on the field. This could contribute to developments in other studies of the brain like post-traumatic stress.

Criterion B . Describe, step by step, how the IT system works. 1. Surgically implanted nerves are connected to electrodes placed on the chest area. 2.The nerves prompt electrical signals from the brain to the electrodes. 3. The electrical signals are then interpreted by a micro-processor, into natural movements. More information on how bionic arms work: http://thetartan.org/2008/9/22/scitech/howthingswork

Outline how this IT system works: Essentially, this system consists of hardware (electrodes) that replace the nerves going to and from the brain. Electrodes are connected to the chest muscles which control 6 motors that move the prosthetic joints. When the mind sends a message through the nerves to move a muscle in the arm, the signal causes a muscle in the chest to contract, which activates a certain electrode to tell a motor to move a part of the bionic arm. A more detailed account of how mind-controlled bionics works is here: http://science.howstuffworks.com/bionic-arm.htm This story is a prime example of how IT is being used to radically develop medical research and treatments.

The main social and ethical issue in this article is People and Machines. This new bionic arm which is controlled by the mind is an important development, in this technology, now allowing people who have had to have limbs amputated to have new arms/legs that they can control as they would their original arms/legs. However, due to the fact that it is very new and expensive technology to develop, although it points to the future, at the moment almost no one that would need a bioninc arm would be able to afford it. This means that although it is an essential step forward, at the moment it will not be something that can help the majority of people who most need it. As well as this, the bionic arm, although it is controlled by the mind, it will never be as fluid and will never work as intuitively as your arm.