Los Angeles Times: Science Quickens Its Steps
Los Angeles Times: Science Quickens Its Steps
Unlike the dead-weighted and immutable arms, feet and knees offered to veterans of the Vietnam War, the best prosthetic knees currently available rely on artificial intelligence to anticipate the user's movements. One knee, expected to become available in a few months, will even mimic lost muscle activity by powering ankle and leg amputees up stairs, or up from a sitting position.
But that's just the beginning. Advances in robotics, electronics and tissue engineering ultimately could create ways to lengthen damaged limbs, grow new cartilage, skin and bone, and permanently affix a prosthesis to the body. Some researchers are even designing a so-called biohybrid limb — a prosthesis that can be controlled by the user's thoughts.
The biohybrid limb is designed to reduce the amount of effort needed to move the limb and thus limit falls, increase feelings of security and improve self-image. The user of such a leg could spring from the sofa to catch a baby who is about to tumble from a highchair.
In short, researchers predict, it would be as good as a natural human limb
"A decade or two ago we imagined a neural interface, but it was science fiction," said Hugh Herr, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who lost his feet at age 17 to frostbite during mountain climbing. "But now these things are pretty close to being realized in the laboratory."
Unlike the dead-weighted and immutable arms, feet and knees offered to veterans of the Vietnam War, the best prosthetic knees currently available rely on artificial intelligence to anticipate the user's movements. One knee, expected to become available in a few months, will even mimic lost muscle activity by powering ankle and leg amputees up stairs, or up from a sitting position.
But that's just the beginning. Advances in robotics, electronics and tissue engineering ultimately could create ways to lengthen damaged limbs, grow new cartilage, skin and bone, and permanently affix a prosthesis to the body. Some researchers are even designing a so-called biohybrid limb — a prosthesis that can be controlled by the user's thoughts.
The biohybrid limb is designed to reduce the amount of effort needed to move the limb and thus limit falls, increase feelings of security and improve self-image. The user of such a leg could spring from the sofa to catch a baby who is about to tumble from a highchair.
In short, researchers predict, it would be as good as a natural human limb
"A decade or two ago we imagined a neural interface, but it was science fiction," said Hugh Herr, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who lost his feet at age 17 to frostbite during mountain climbing. "But now these things are pretty close to being realized in the laboratory."
posted by LexMonkey at 3/10/2006 04:41:00 PM ||
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