Bionics: It's Not Just Science Fiction Anymore

The melding of human and machine today is being used not to run 60 miles an hour or see miles away but rather to regain mobility, restore sight and allow the deaf to hear again. Now comes news from Britain of the first successful 'bionic eye' implants.

From the Huffington Post, CNN and the UK Times Online: 'Artificial vision for the blind was once the stuff of science fiction - Lt. Geordi La Forge's visor on "Star Trek" or the bionic eye of "The Six Million Dollar Man." 'But now, a limited form of artificial vision is a reality - one some say is one of the greatest triumphs in medical history.' 'Two successful operations to implant the device into the eyes of two blind patients have been conducted at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. 'The device - the first of its kind — incorporates a video camera and transmitter mounted on a pair of glasses. This is linked to an artificial retina, which transmits moving images along the optic nerve to the brain and enables the patient to discriminate rudimentary images of motion, light and dark.' Also from CNN: 'At Neural Signals, one of the leading companies in the field, scientists are developing computer systems that respond to human nerve impulses. "We electronically record through the skin with a pad electrode," says Dr. Philip Kennedy of Neural Signals. "And even if there's no movement, there's often some -- even small -- muscle activity, which must be associated with electrical activity, and we can pick that up." 'Here's how it works. Commands from the brain are read through a brain implant, placed inside the motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls body movement. As the patient thinks about a movement, the electrode picks up a signal, amplifies it, then transmits it through the skin to a computer.' 'In experiments, a quadriplegic man has been able to move a computer cursor just by thinking about it, and a monkey has moved a robotic arm in the same way.' The pace at which modern technology is making reality what was once the realm of science fiction is truly a wonder to behold.