The word bionic is a combination of two words biology and electronic. Bionics is the field of science that brings together engineering, biology, and medicine to replace parts of the body. There a three types of medical bionic devices, one that sends signals from the brain to the body, one that sends signals from the body to the brain, and finally one which restricts action to one part of the body without interfering the nervous system. The bionic eye can restore vision from those suffering from partial or total blindness.
Another example is the bionic ear which benefits people who have severe, profound or total earing loss in either or both ear, also bionic limbs have helped amputees regain mobility. They all help people recover confidence and motivate individuals to pursue their careers after what they have been through. 3, Complicated movement of the prosthesis can be brought about my microcircuits that perceive patterns of electrical impulses within the tissues of the surrounding muscle. Artificial limbs can now be controlled electronically by an electronic method which recognise a variety of patterns of electrical movement. Sounds wave enter the ear canal and make the ear drum vibrate. This actions moves the miniature chains of bones in the iddle ear.
The last bone in this chain ‘knocks’ on the membrane window of the cochlear and makes the fluid in the cochlear interchange. The fluid movement than generates a response in the hearing nerve, therefore creating sound. Diagram of the human ear: Cochlear implants replace the function of the damaged parts of the ear. Signals made by the implant are sent directly via the auditory nerve to the brain, which recognises the signals commonly known as sound. Light rays enter the eye through the cornea. The cornea’s refractive power bends the light waves then they pass through the pupil.
The light rays must then pass through the vitreous and come to a sharp converging point on the retina. The retina develops them into light impulses through millions of tiny nerve endings, then send them through over a million nerve fibers via the optic nerve to the brain. Diagram of a human’s eye: A bionic vision system consists of a camera, attached to a pair of glasses, which then transfers high-frequency radio signals to a microchip implanted in the patient’s eye. Electrodes on the implanted chip transfer these signals into electrical impulses to motivate cells in the retina that connect to the optic nerve.
These impulses are then passed down along with the optic nerve to the brain where they are interpreted as an image for the patient. Artificial prosthetic limbs had major restricted movements that made them a challenge for amputees to do the simplest of tasks. Bionic arms allow a user to grip a pen, type, hold credit cards, and tie shoelaces. Bionic legs have been made to automatically adjust to uneven ground giving amputees’ ability to climb stairs and stand up as well as reducing the risk of osteoarthritis’s due to an unnatural walk by conventional prosthesis. Science has the challenge of developing connections between he human body and the built world.
For example: – How do you signal electrically into and out of the nervous system? – How do you attach machines to the body so it is comfortable? – How do you build body parts that move like natural body parts? It could rid the world of disability provided people can afford the technology. It could also take a normal person and make them enhanced in some way. However, developing bionics requires massive investment in education and training that third world countries may not be able to afford.
A leg prosthesis can range between $5,000 to $50,000, an arm is sually cheaper, from $3,000 to $30,000. A prosthesis device can be body powered or electronic, and be made from a wide variety of materials all of which contribute to the massive amount of cost. Having a bionic prosthesis if you are an amputee can improve your quality of life and your well-being. However, some people may choose to have a bionic prosthesis as a body augmentation because parts of the body aren’t up to the expectations of themselves. Whilst technology is improving the cost of bionic prostheses it may still be beyond affordability of people on low incomes in Australia and overseas.
