By: Tony Wang
In 2012, a drummer named Jason Barnes was cleaning the vent of a restaurant when, suddenly, 22,000 volts of electricity shot through him. The next thing he remembered was waking up in a hospital with burns all over his body. After half a dozen surgeries, Jason's right hand needed to be amputated—one of the worst things that can happen to a musician. It should have been the end of his musical career, but Barnes was determined to continue playing the drums. It was this same determination that led to him developing his own prosthetic arm. Intrigued by Jason’s accomplishments, Eric Sanders, his music teacher, showed Jason a video of some work done by Gil Weinberg, an engineer who had been working on developing robot musicians that were able to improvise accompaniments to any song being played to them. Soon after viewing the videos, Jason emailed Weinberg, inquiring as to whether or not he’d be interested in working together to develop advanced prosthetic arms capable of playing music. To his surprise, Weinberg was. The product of their collaboration was a robot drumming arm, capable of playing faster than humanly possible. Jason would go on to perform with this new arm at several venues, receiving rave reviews everywhere he went. One must wonder, though, if a prosthetic limb could be designed to play music, what else could they be designed to do?
Interestingly, people have been using prostheses, or artificial limbs, for centuries, with the most common example being wooden legs. These replacements allowed the user to regain the ability to perform tasks that, otherwise, would have been impossible. However, they were often uncomfortable, difficult to use, and unattractive. These issues would remain until around the 20th century, when researchers began to develop alternatives that were lighter, easier to control, and more lifelike. Nowadays, the field of prosthetics is still advancing, with the most recent focus being the incorporation of bionic technology with prosthetics. This field, which integrates mechanical devices with biological organisms, is most commonly known as biomechatronics.
The entire concept of a bionic prosthetic may sound simple. After all, a task such as picking up a glass is trivial for us. But pause for a moment and think about the underlying processes that happen when you pick up a glass. First, you must bend your elbow so that your forearm is in the correct position relative to the glass. Then, you have to rotate your forearm and wrist at the correct angle so that your hand can actually make contact with the glass. After that, you need to wrap your fingers around the glass, applying enough pressure so that you have a firm grip, but not so much that the glass cracks within your grip. Now consider the fact that a robotic arm must be able to do all of this easily and quickly. It is this series of interactions between the brain and the body that researchers around the world have been attempting to mimic in their bionic technology. As of now, there are a great number of bionic prosthetics that show great promise, but none that have been able to perfectly replicate the actions of the human body.
Despite the fact that bionic prosthetics have not yet been perfected, there have been several advancements in regard to their development. For instance, in the past, scientists struggled to find a safe and efficient method to attach a bionic prosthetic to an amputated limb. However, this is no longer an issue due to osseointegration, a process that utilizes a synthetic titanium-based implement in order to connect a bionic prosthetic to the bone within a patient’s amputated limb. Because of this direct connection between the bone and the prosthesis, the limb provides better stability and control, uses less energy, is more comfortable, and reduces the risk of degeneration and atrophy.
Though bionic limbs are far from perfect, one thing is clear: the potential uses of bionic technology are vast, and we have only seen a fraction of their possible applications. One can only wonder what exactly we will be able to accomplish via the usage of bionic technology a few decades from now.
Citations:
newsinhealth.nih.gov/2018/08/bionic-movements www.touchstonerehabilitation.com/blog/amputee-drummer-jason-barnes www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/bionic-limbs
What Did You Learn?
Questions:
What is the procedure for osseointegration?
The procedure involves two surgeries. The first operation includes the insertion of titanium implants into the bone. Often, extensive revision of soft-tissue is also needed. The second operation happens six to eight weeks later, involving refinement of the stoma (the opening in the residual limb) and the attachment of the hardware that connects the titanium implants to the prosthetic. Over time, muscle and bone will grow around the implanted titanium. One this has been completed, the external prosthetic limb can be attached or removed in a matter of seconds.
Are mind-controlled bionic limbs possible? How do mind-controlled bionic limbs work?
Yes, they are! Mind-controlled bionic limbs are highly advanced bionic limbs that are able to respond to commands from the central nervous system, meaning that they can closely replicate the movements and functionality of a regular limb with little delay. Some mind-controlled bionic technologies implant tiny sensors into parts of the brain that control movement and feeling, thus allowing the user to know when their “hand” is opened or closed without looking.