Entering the Age of Bionics, Slowly

"As we step into the future more and more people will have parts of their bodies that are designed, are part of the built world," said bionics exponent Hugh Herr in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal. "What's intriguing is that the designed part of the body can improve in time, whereas the normal body, the biological body, degrades in time."  Herr later goes on to say that the current state of medical technology is often "pitiful."

What is holding the field back? While Herr and others have helped stimulate innovation in bionics, lacking of funding remains a one key problem, according to a piece on MD+DI. The article estimates that maybe one out of ten bionic technologies survives to be commercialized. The majority that don't die in the so-called valley of death. Reimbursement challenges represent another problem.

Naturally, some of the biggest proponents of bionic technologies are those who stand to benefit from them the most. So it comes as no surprise that Hugh Herr is a double amputee who has benefited from cutting-edge prosthetics. A rock climber who lost his legs in following an accident, Herr now has better capabilities than when he had his natural limbs.

Bionic eye developer Second Sight also has a connection to an individual who is on a personal quest to help the blind. The company received financial backing from Alfred Mann, whose friend Sam Williams is looking for a technological cure for blindness as he has retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disorder.

Body Hackers

Related to innovators like Herr, who develop messianic zeal to push the boundaries of bionic technologies, are bio-hackers. The world of bio-hacking is dedicated to pure experimentation--either for the sake of recreation or academic inquiry. Such people have investigated everything from embedding magnets underneath the fingertips to earphone implants that can help the wearer navigate without the use of sight.

On the academic side of things, Kevin Warwick of the University of Reading is one of the most notable innovators. In 2002, he made headlines by becoming the first cyborg after wiring an electrode array into his arm, permitting him to remotely control an artificial hand.

Promising Enabling Technologies

Exoskeletons. The Lockheed Martin Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) exoskeleton may have been originally developed for the military, but the technology has provided the inspiration for an array of applications. In the medical realm, the technology has been customized by companies like Ekso Bionics to help the crippled walk. Lockheed Martin is investigating the use of fuel cell power for power, which would enable the device to be used continuously for 96 hours.

Such technology may eventually have widespread commercial appeal. According to research from IDEO, the commercial exoskeleton market may eclipse the medical market for the technology. 

The HULC even inspired the makers of the Matt Damon film Elysium to prominently feature a futuristic version of the device in the plot.

Multi-Carrier Wireless Link for Implants. The carrier frequency is a vital consideration when linking an implants such as neuromuscular stimulators, cochlear implants, and visual prostheses transcutaneously.

Traditional approaches have not been able to deliver high-power transmission efficiency and data transmission bandwidth, while also providing magnetic coupling insensitivity and back telemetry. Researchers at Georgia Tech are developing a multi-carrier wireless link for implantable medical devices with high power consumption needs.

Subretinal chips. Last year, patients in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong demonstrated some ability to see following long-term blindness after retinal implants were implanted in the eye. This year, wireless implant technology from Retina Implant AG won the CE Mark.

At the heart of the system are subretinal chips, which coaxes 1500 pixels of imaging capability from a surface area measuring 3-mm square. Each of the 1500 microphotodiodes on the chip is linked to an amplifier and an electrode, enabling it to pick up light, convert it to an electrical signal.

Another device using subretinal chips is the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, which was approved by FDA in February. The system uses a miniature video camera and a transmitter attached to a pair of eyeglasses, a video processing unit, along with subretinal chips.

3-D Printed Bionic Skins. The MIT Media Lab's Biomechatronics Group is working on creating a seamless interface between the skin and contact surfaces of medical wearable devices. In particular, the group is working on a prosthetic socket for an amputee that is created from MRI data.

Muscle-Actuated Robotics. The aforementioned group at MIT is also investigating the use of muscle tissue as actuators for small robots. In 2004, MIT researchers developed a robot that used frog muscles for actuation. The robot was able to navigate while swimming and was able to function for four hours before its performance began to degrade. 

The researchers state the the development of further biomechatronic prototypes with integrated musculoskeletal tissues will be the next step in the development of robust robots and prostheses that are muscle-actuated.

Brian Buntz  is the editor-in-chief of MPMN and Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @brian_buntz.