Escape Artists
Escape Pod => Science Fiction Discussion => Topic started by: Heradel on February 11, 2009, 03:02:54 AM
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From here (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/health/research/11arm.html) (go there, and watch the video):
Amanda Kitts lost her left arm in a car accident three years ago, but these days she plays football with her 12-year-old son, and changes diapers and bearhugs children at the three Kiddie Cottage day care centers she owns in Knoxville, Tenn.
Ms. Kitts, 40, does this all with a new kind of artificial arm that moves more easily than other devices and that she can control by using only her thoughts.
“I’m able to move my hand, wrist and elbow all at the same time,” she said. “You think, and then your muscles move.”
Her turnaround is the result of a new procedure that is attracting increasing attention because it allows people to move prosthetic arms more automatically than ever before, simply by using rewired nerves and their brains.
The technique, called targeted muscle reinnervation, involves taking the nerves that remain after an arm is amputated and connecting them to another muscle in the body, often in the chest. Electrodes are placed over the chest muscles, acting as antennae. When the person wants to move the arm, the brain sends signals that first contract the chest muscles, which send an electrical signal to the prosthetic arm, instructing it to move. The process requires no more conscious effort than it would for a person who has a natural arm.
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Dean Kamen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Kamen) (the segway guy) was hired by the military to work on this. d6 had a great interview (http://gizmodo.com/5048872/dean-kamens-full-bionic-luke-arm-video-from-all-things-d) about the development process.
careful tho, there's not enough fiction in your post to stay in the science fiction section.
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From here (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/health/research/11arm.html) (go there, and watch the video):
The technique, called targeted muscle reinnervation, involves taking the nerves that remain after an arm is amputated and connecting them to another muscle in the body, often in the chest. Electrodes are placed over the chest muscles, acting as antennae. When the person wants to move the arm, the brain sends signals that first contract the chest muscles, which send an electrical signal to the prosthetic arm, instructing it to move. The process requires no more conscious effort than it would for a person who has a natural arm.
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This is essentially bionics, ne? Ms. Kitts has a bionic arm.
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This is essentially bionics, ne? Ms. Kitts has a bionic arm.
I guess it's bionics technically, but the difference is slight. A little less strength and control, but it looks like a greater range of motion.
Dean Kamen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Kamen) (the segway guy) was hired by the military to work on this. d6 had a great interview (http://gizmodo.com/5048872/dean-kamens-full-bionic-luke-arm-video-from-all-things-d) about the development process.
careful tho, there's not enough fiction in your post to stay in the science fiction section.
Ha, well, it's not like we haven't discussed SF becoming S before. Obviously I will bow to the will of the great Nash if he decides different. Then hit him over the head with a heavy stick and put it back, because that is how I roll.
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This is essentially bionics, ne? Ms. Kitts has a bionic arm.
I guess it's bionics technically, but the difference is slight. A little less strength and control, but it looks like a greater range of motion.
I thought "bionics" was defined as making artificial body parts that work pretty much like the original parts that they replace.
[flip, flip]
Well, my age was in the single-digit range when I received that definition; Wikipedia has more detail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionics):
Bionics (also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering) is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.
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i lost my left arm in a car accident once, but then i sent my prayer on the back of a $100 bill to
TCoRN
1313 Mockingbird Ln.
10101 Berlin
Germany
and got a perfectly new awesome cyborg arm that looks just like a human one, Star Wars style.
now im the Acolyte of a successful religion that spans the entire globe!
so don't hesitate, send your prayers like I did mine!
why can't they make an arm with more motion than that? i mean people have already made very very complicated arm systems... why can't they just use that and attach more nerves?
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careful tho, there's not enough fiction in your post to stay in the science fiction section.
Ha, well, it's not like we haven't discussed SF becoming S before. Obviously I will bow to the will of the great Nash if he decides different. Then hit him over the head with a heavy stick and put it back, because that is how I roll.
How did I get into this? If I want to move one of your posts, I have bdoomed do it.
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careful tho, there's not enough fiction in your post to stay in the science fiction section.
Ha, well, it's not like we haven't discussed SF becoming S before. Obviously I will bow to the will of the great Nash if he decides different. Then hit him over the head with a heavy stick and put it back, because that is how I roll.
How did I get into this? If I want to move one of your posts, I have bdoomed do it.
It is a very large stick.
I thought "bionics" was defined as making artificial body parts that work pretty much like the original parts that they replace.
[flip, flip]
Well, my age was in the single-digit range when I received that definition; Wikipedia has more detail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bionics):
Bionics (also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering) is the application of biological methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology.
I think the current rule of thumb is that Bionics replicate natural abilities, Cybernetics exceed natural abilities.
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The lack of motion seems to be mostly from the harness. This looks like a prototype. I imagine the next version will have more mobility.
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This is essentially bionics, ne? Ms. Kitts has a bionic arm.
But it doesn't make that cool sound efffect.
(Sorry to bring an intelligent discussion down to a pop-culture reference, but I had to do it. Now on with more discussion...)
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Kevin Warwick has been a demi-cyborg for ages now.
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But it doesn't make that cool sound efffect.
Get yerself a cordless screwdriver. I had a friend who could walk convincingly like a robot and he would operate the screwdriver's switch in synch with his limb movements to provide the SFX. It was marvelous to see.
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I have bdoomed do it.
again, not a maid.
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I have bdoomed do it.
again, not a maid.
I was thinking of you as "hired muscle".
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like American Maid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Maid)?
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i249/Symbioticintegration/AmericanMaid.jpg)
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like American Maid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Maid)?
That looks just like bdoomed
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sigh
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sigh
Thwack!
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sigh
Thwack!
With a Spoon!