The Bionic Body

Hi people, 'HAPPY NEW YEAR'.

I will give you the links to some great sites, which i found very interesting regarding The Bionic Body. The advancement in the sciences and mechanics as grown greatly in the past decade. Is it now possible to have a fully functioning bionic man? Lets check it out

The Bionic Body

If a starfish loses an arm, it's no big deal. A starfish has regenerative capabilities, so the starfish can grow a new arm. In fact, you can cut a starfish in half and each piece could regenerate, forming two separate starfish! Lots of other organisms have ways to regenerate. Some lizards and salamanders can grow new tails and some insects can grow new legs.

Wouldn't it be great if we could repair ourselves in the same way? Imagine losing an arm in an accident, and then growing a new one two weeks later!

Okay, that's impossible. But your body can do a little regeneration of its own. For example, if you wipeout on your skateboard or cut yourself while making dinner, your epidermis (skin) can regenerate to heal the wound. If you were to cut off your fingertip in woodworking class, you might even grow another one (as long as the cut is above your fingernail bed, the area where your fingernail starts to grow). The new tip probably wouldn't look exactly like what you lost, though.

Will you ever be able to grow a new arm? Maybe! Scientists are working with a type of cell called a stem-cell. These special cells might let humans regenerate. Maybe in the future we can grow new body parts.

But what can we do right now to help people who need new body parts? From head to toe, there are already lots of "bionic body parts" that doctors can use. Let's take a closer look at a few of them.

Artificial Vision

Photo courtesy Advanced Bionics Artificial silicon retina device (black dot) on a penny

The artificial silicon retina (ASR) is a very tiny microchip, smaller than a pencil eraser. It has a diameter of just 2 mm (.078 inch) and is thinner than a human hair. Why is it so tiny? The ASR has to be small enough to fit inside your eye without doing any damage. These chips must also be bio compatible with the cells in the eye.

The ASR needs a power source, but that's easy - it's solar! The ASR receives all of its needed power from light shining into the eye. The ASR is still in the testing phase, but it looks promising. People who have the chip are able to see more colors and shapes, and they see more clearly.

Photo courtesy Advanced Bionics
An implanted ASR device


http://express.howstuffworks.com/bionic-body1.htm

Artificial Heart

Would you like a mechanical heart? So far, twelve people have received AbioCor Implantable Replacement Hearts, the first completely self-contained artificial heart. "Self-contained" means that everything is inside the patients body, including the batteries. A charger uses something called an inductive plate to send energy through the skin to charge the battery.

The AbioCor heart weighs about 2 pounds and is made of titanium and plastic. It can pump more than 10 liters of blood per minute, which is enough for everyday stuff like walking. The AbioCor works in a different way from a real heart. A real heart can pump blood to the lungs and the body on each beat. The AbioCor sends blood to the lungs and then to the body every other beat, instead of both at the same time. This helps to keep the artificial heart small, and there is still plenty of blood flow for normal life.

Photo courtesy Abiomed AbioCor artificial heart

Most people who get the AbioCor heart can live for five months after their transplants. That might not sound like much, but it is twice as long as they would have lived without it.

http://express.howstuffworks.com/bionic-body2.htm

Prosthetic Limbs

Photo courtesy UtahArm Internal parts of prosthetic hand

With the help of computer aided design (CAD) technology and some incredible materials like titanium, Kevlar and carbon fiber, scientists can make prosthetic limbs. Athletes like Rudy Garcia-Tolson take full advantage of this new technology. Despite having both legs amputated above the knee, Garcia-Tolson plays football, swims and even runs track. In fact, this amazing 15-year-old athlete will be competing in the 2004 Paralympics Games.

Rudy relies on two different types of Ossur foot prostheses. For most sports, he wears the Flex-Foot C-Sprint. For everyday activities, he uses Vari-Flex. Both types are made of carbon fiber. It is lightweight but super-strong and flexible. The designs don't look like natural legs and feet, but they have ankle motion and good shock absorption just like a real leg.

After appearing on the TV show "ER," the "Utah Arm" might be the most famous prosthetic limb. The Utah Arm and Hand System looks very natural. It works naturally too. The muscle tissue in the stump "talks" to the prosthetic limb through a computer. A long-lasting battery powers the movement of the hand, wrist and elbow.

Photo courtesy UtahArm
Prosthetic armhttp://express.howstuffworks.com/bionic-body3.htm

Bionic Hearing

Photo courtesy Advanced Bionics Cochlear Implant

A normal hearing aid turns up the volume on the world. That really helps if you have mild hearing loss. People who lose all their hearing need a Cochlear implant. Instead of just making sounds louder, a Cochlear implant actually talks directly to the brain.

There are three main parts to the Cochlear setup: the implant itself (which is surgically placed inside your ear), a sound processor that fits over your ear, and an electrode array. The processor translates sounds into digital information and sends it to the implant through an antenna. The implant changes this information into electrical signals and sends these signals to the electrode array. The electrode array sends the electrical signals to the auditory nerve. And the auditory nerve passes this sound information to the brain.

Photo courtesy Advanced Bionics
Ear diagram: placement of Cochlear Implant
http://express.howstuffworks.com/bionic-body4.htm