• Question: is it possible to create prostetic, working+ useful organs??

    Asked by raggyy to Allan, Diva, Nathan on 5 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Nathan Langford

      Nathan Langford answered on 5 Jul 2012:

      Hi raggyy,

      I think I would probably argue that the answer to this is already yes. Have you heard of cochlear implants? These are electronic devices that are implanted in your ear if the sensory hairs in your ear (in the cochlea) aren’t working properly. These are able to allow some people who are completely deaf to hear again – it’s pretty amazing!

      Check them out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant

      I’m sure that there will be more and more such examples as technology gets better… Although this is probably going to be most difficult when you have to replace a part which controls the organs. In the cochlear implant, this just replaces a part of your body that receives a signal in one form (sound) and transmits it along in another (electrical impulses).

      Cheers,
      Nathan.

    • Photo: Allan Pang

      Allan Pang answered on 6 Jul 2012:

      The short answer is Yes. We already have them.

      Prosthetic hands and limbs are already available. And they do work fine. Even if they are working fine, because the connection between hands and limbs to the brain has been severed (neural connection), there has been an effort in creating an artificial connection to this. Check this out from US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/DSO/Programs/Revolutionizing_Prosthetics.aspx

      Basically, they are creating a robotic arm/limbs.

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