http://www.platinum.matthey.com/uploaded_files/news%20room%20pics/pt_bionic_eye.jpgIan E. Gonzalez
11/16/08
COMP 106
Prof. Yerks
Module III: Analyzing Public and Civic Texts
Human and machine. They are often thought of as two very different entities, ones which could never be mixed. Human beings made of living, functioning cells. Machines made of lifeless, inorganic parts. These are two very different units indeed. Or are they? When you break down the human body into its most basic components, are we not made of the same substances, the same molecules which exist elsewhere in the universe? When you break us down to the organs and molecules that make up our body, we realize that perhaps, these things are analogous to machines, all working together to make a functioning whole. That said, it is entirely possible that the living human body and inanimate machines can be used together to keep the body, the human being, functioning.
On April 22, 2008, British surgeons at the Morrfields Eye Hospital in London, conducted the first ever bionic eye implantation into two blind patients. These bionic eyes, allowed these formerly blind individuals the ability to see. This was definitely an incredible achievement for the medical community. How the eye works, is the bionic eye has a camera mounted on a set of spectacles or glasses, which then wirelessly link up to the implants within the eye. These implants are electrodes which are connected to the back portion of the individual’s retina within the eye. The camera feeds the visual information into a processing unit, which converts the information into electrical signals to the electrodes, which then transfer these signals to the retina. The retina then takes this information to the optic nerve, which then leads to the brain and is processed as actual sight. In spite of this incredibly complicated prosthetic, the user can still only see lights, shapes and movement with low resolution (Fildes, Jonathan, 2007). They cannot see the objects with the sharp acuity that we can and also cannot view the full spectrum of visible light that healthy eyes can. In any case, this doesn’t make it any less of an achievement, because as technology progresses, the visual quality of these ocular devises will increase and perhaps surpass that of normal eyes.
This successful operation serves as a sort of benchmark in the utilization of bionics in medical technology for 2008. It is very clear that with this success, medical scientists will continue to pursue bionics for other medical purposes, such as replacing failing organs. In fact, on June 12, 2008, A National Institutes of Health grant was given to the Texas Heart Institute, in hopes that they may develop a fully functional bionic heart (Texas Heart Institute, 2008). Though we already have artificial hearts in service at hospitals throughout the U.S., these will only function properly for a few hours. The goal for the bionic heart is to produce a heart that can permanently replace the malfunctioning human heart. This is still in the planning stage, but has been deemed a possibility. With an artificial heart in development, it is not a stretch to believe that other replacement organs will be soon to follow.
Organs are not the only thing that bionics can replace, but it is believed that replacement blood can be synthetically produced. This too is in the planning stages, but scientists believe that it could be entirely possible to produce nano-bots called respirocytes, which serve the same function as natural blood. In actuality, they believe that these respirocytes may even surpass the efficiency of natural blood as this hypothetical nano-bot would carry about 236 times the oxygen that the natural blood cells could (Freitas Jr., Robert A, 2002). These complex machines are only one micron in diameter and contain an array of complex computers, sensors and power plants. In addition to its amazing efficiency, these nano-bots can be coded to be accepted by the bodies of the recipient, using just a small drop of their own blood. If these machines were ever successfully produced, then we would never have to worry about blood shortages, based on the rarity of certain blood types.
Along with the replacement of failing or malfunctioning organs, medical scientists have pioneered the use of bionics to enhance our already functioning bodies. Scientists have recently been developing bionic lenses, a sort of contact lens which allows the wearer to view computerized images directly over the eye (Staedter, Tracy, 2008). It also allows us to view our own health conditions or to let us zoom into objects from very far away. Such technology could be used for the purposes of flying an airplane, viewing someone’s health conditions, or even for playing virtual videogames. Such enhancement could have incredibly positive and beneficial effects to our technology oriented society.
The benefits of bionic research are self evident. People in the 21st century want to live forever, a reason why research in the medical field has been so strongly supported. With the use of bionics, we can undoubtedly increase our life spans to a noticeable degree. We can, in effect, negate the negative effects of aging by maintaining the human body using bionic replacement parts for organs that fail or by creating implanted dispensers for the purpose of regulating necessary chemicals within the body. Imagine, being able to run a marathon at the age of a hundred. This is not at all impossible because along with organ replacement, bionics has extended itself to the replacement or enhancement of human limbs, thus negating the limits of arthritis. With bionics, age and disease will no longer be a deciding factor as to whether we live or die. Bionics could possibly become the new conduit for medical technology.
Works Cited
1. Fildes, Jonathan. “Trials for ‘Bionic’ Eye Implants.” BBC News 16 February 2007.
16 November 2008 < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6368089.stm>
2. Heart Assist Devices. 12 June 2008. Texas Heart Institute. 16 November. 2008
<http://texasheart.org/Research/Devices/>
Human and machine. They are often thought of as two very different entities, ones which could never be mixed. Human beings made of living, functioning cells. Machines made of lifeless, inorganic parts. These are two very different units indeed. Or are they? When you break down the human body into its most basic components, are we not made of the same substances, the same molecules which exist elsewhere in the universe? When you break us down to the organs and molecules that make up our body, we realize that perhaps, these things are analogous to machines, all working together to make a functioning whole. That said, it is entirely possible that the living human body and inanimate machines can be used together to keep the body, the human being, functioning.
On April 22, 2008, British surgeons at the Morrfields Eye Hospital in London, conducted the first ever bionic eye implantation into two blind patients. These bionic eyes, allowed these formerly blind individuals the ability to see. This was definitely an incredible achievement for the medical community. How the eye works, is the bionic eye has a camera mounted on a set of spectacles or glasses, which then wirelessly link up to the implants within the eye. These implants are electrodes which are connected to the back portion of the individual’s retina within the eye. The camera feeds the visual information into a processing unit, which converts the information into electrical signals to the electrodes, which then transfer these signals to the retina. The retina then takes this information to the optic nerve, which then leads to the brain and is processed as actual sight. In spite of this incredibly complicated prosthetic, the user can still only see lights, shapes and movement with low resolution (Fildes, Jonathan, 2007). They cannot see the objects with the sharp acuity that we can and also cannot view the full spectrum of visible light that healthy eyes can. In any case, this doesn’t make it any less of an achievement, because as technology progresses, the visual quality of these ocular devises will increase and perhaps surpass that of normal eyes.
This successful operation serves as a sort of benchmark in the utilization of bionics in medical technology for 2008. It is very clear that with this success, medical scientists will continue to pursue bionics for other medical purposes, such as replacing failing organs. In fact, on June 12, 2008, A National Institutes of Health grant was given to the Texas Heart Institute, in hopes that they may develop a fully functional bionic heart (Texas Heart Institute, 2008). Though we already have artificial hearts in service at hospitals throughout the U.S., these will only function properly for a few hours. The goal for the bionic heart is to produce a heart that can permanently replace the malfunctioning human heart. This is still in the planning stage, but has been deemed a possibility. With an artificial heart in development, it is not a stretch to believe that other replacement organs will be soon to follow.
Organs are not the only thing that bionics can replace, but it is believed that replacement blood can be synthetically produced. This too is in the planning stages, but scientists believe that it could be entirely possible to produce nano-bots called respirocytes, which serve the same function as natural blood. In actuality, they believe that these respirocytes may even surpass the efficiency of natural blood as this hypothetical nano-bot would carry about 236 times the oxygen that the natural blood cells could (Freitas Jr., Robert A, 2002). These complex machines are only one micron in diameter and contain an array of complex computers, sensors and power plants. In addition to its amazing efficiency, these nano-bots can be coded to be accepted by the bodies of the recipient, using just a small drop of their own blood. If these machines were ever successfully produced, then we would never have to worry about blood shortages, based on the rarity of certain blood types.
Along with the replacement of failing or malfunctioning organs, medical scientists have pioneered the use of bionics to enhance our already functioning bodies. Scientists have recently been developing bionic lenses, a sort of contact lens which allows the wearer to view computerized images directly over the eye (Staedter, Tracy, 2008). It also allows us to view our own health conditions or to let us zoom into objects from very far away. Such technology could be used for the purposes of flying an airplane, viewing someone’s health conditions, or even for playing virtual videogames. Such enhancement could have incredibly positive and beneficial effects to our technology oriented society.
The benefits of bionic research are self evident. People in the 21st century want to live forever, a reason why research in the medical field has been so strongly supported. With the use of bionics, we can undoubtedly increase our life spans to a noticeable degree. We can, in effect, negate the negative effects of aging by maintaining the human body using bionic replacement parts for organs that fail or by creating implanted dispensers for the purpose of regulating necessary chemicals within the body. Imagine, being able to run a marathon at the age of a hundred. This is not at all impossible because along with organ replacement, bionics has extended itself to the replacement or enhancement of human limbs, thus negating the limits of arthritis. With bionics, age and disease will no longer be a deciding factor as to whether we live or die. Bionics could possibly become the new conduit for medical technology.
Works Cited
1. Fildes, Jonathan. “Trials for ‘Bionic’ Eye Implants.” BBC News 16 February 2007.
16 November 2008 < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6368089.stm>
2. Heart Assist Devices. 12 June 2008. Texas Heart Institute. 16 November. 2008
<http://texasheart.org/Research/Devices/>
3. Staedter, Tracy. “‘Bionic Lens’ Adds Computing Power to Sight.” Discovery News 5
February 2008. 16 November 2008 http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/05/bionic-contact-lens.html
4. Freitas Jr., Robert A. “Nanomedicine Art Gallery Respirocytes Images.” Foresight:
Nanotech Institute 2002. 16 November 2008
February 2008. 16 November 2008 http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/05/bionic-contact-lens.html
4. Freitas Jr., Robert A. “Nanomedicine Art Gallery Respirocytes Images.” Foresight:
Nanotech Institute 2002. 16 November 2008
2 comments:
very interesting. i wasn't aware that this kind of eye was created already and i think it's great. i'm sure it gives hope to many people. it's amazing how the mechanics of it actually work.
This was a very interesting essay.. i didn't know that the medical field had made so many new advancements.. this is really good
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