Thursday, October 29, 2009
Endoprosthetics
Endoprosthetics or prosthetics which reside inside the skin that replace a damaged or diseased bone have been in use for some time now. However, especially with children who developed conditions such as osteosarcoma and needed a bone removed in replaced by a prosthetic bone had the problem of needing the prosthetic to be constantly replaced as the child grew. Eventually prosthetics were developed that could be lengthened instead of completely replaced, but these prosthetics still required surgery to be lengthened. In children six surgeries normally occur throughout their lives to adjust the prosthetic. A new prosthetic has been created which can be adjusted much easier and without surgery as the person grows. This prosthetic uses a spring with a locking mechanism. When a magnetic field is generated outside the body near the limb, the locking mechanism releases allowing the prosthetic to expand. When the field is removed the prosthetic stops moving and re-locks. This process only takes about 20 seconds and doesn't require any kind of surgery after the prosthetic has been placed into the person's body. The prosthetic still might have to be replaced from time to time because, just like any prosthetic, it can develop infections. However, this new form of endoprosthetics allows the user to avoid painful and potentially scarring surgeries as they grow. This might not be the most technological innovation I have blogged about, but it is still an important innovation for many people who need endoprosthetics.
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I find it very interesting that doctors can actually implant something in a person to help them grow and develop properly. Do you know of any kind of implants or the like that could possibly alter the development process based on a whim, like how parents can choose what their baby will look and be like? As in, if a person wished to be taller, they could implant something in them to help their body grow taller? Also, I found something semi-related to this, but very related to your blog. There is an exoskeleton invented by Cyberdyne that was designed supposedly for rehabilitation and physical therapy purposes. However, it can also be used to enhance strength and endurance, etc. (I believe this is it's real purpose) It's called the HAL Exoskeleton, and is unfortunately extremely expensive. Rather than an implant, a person can simply pt the exoskeleton on and take it off when finished. Here is a link:
ReplyDeletehttp://gizmodo.com/381024/rent-your-own-hal-exoskeleton
P.S. Don't read the comments...they're hilariously inappropriate :P
P.S.S The article doesn't provide much info, but if you google "HAL Exoskeleton" you'll find more.
I have read about the HAL Exoskeleton, and I don't believe it can be used for someone who is a paraplegic or has some condition along those lines. I believe HAL could be used to aid people who might have some kind of debilitating condition that has weakened their mobility but not fully eliminated it. I don't know of any technology that could change a person simply any time they wanted to be changed. From what I know the only way this could be done is to alter that person's genes. I'm not sure whether this is fully possible yet, but I know gene altering is being researched along with subjects like cloning.
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