By: Tiffany Pham
Replacing members and changing parts naturally seems to be a practice in maintaining robots or marionettes. However, recent medical advancements have markedly demonstrated the potential in replacing and altering not robots, but the human body. From external body parts such as eyes to the skeletal structure of the human to the intricate configuration that is DNA, no part of the body is inaccessible to medical modification.
Artificial Retinas
Retinal degeneration can stem from disease or simply old age. Nonetheless, its effect is life-altering. As such, scientists are developing an ample range of medical devices designed to assist in visual impairment, namely artificial retinas.
Recent studies have demonstrated the utility of optogenetics in helping to restore damaged retinas. Researchers have combined semiconductor nanorods and carbon nanotube films to create a platform for light-induced neurostimulation. A plasma polymerized acrylic acid midlayer is intermingled between the nanorods and the nanotube films, encouraging covalent bonding between the two surfaces. The final product is a thin, wireless prosthesis which can potentially act in place of a damaged retina.
In conducted studies, some patients were able to use their artificial retinas for simple tasks, such as reading large letters and seeing-slow moving cars; however, other patients experienced no benefit. There is currently a large variation in the success of artificial retinas in individual subjects, presumably due to distinct neural connections and networking in each individual’s eye.
Despite the flaws in ongoing treatment, researchers still remain optimistic, continuing to tweak current systems and experimenting in different methods in retinal stimulation. One of the key challenges is being able to provide “images” with enough clarity the brain can identify what the patient is seeing.
3-D Printed Bone Replacement
Year after year, birth defects, injuries, and surgeries leave thousands of people in need of replacement bones in the head or face. Traditionally, treatment involves removing bone from one part of the body, carving it to the shape needed, and transferring it to the necessary region of anatomy. However, the drawbacks of this treatment are considerable; it is difficult to carve bones accurately and the removal of bone may create trauma in that region of the body.
In an attempt to combat the shortfalls of current treatment, biomedical engineer Warren Grayson and his team of researchers look to 3-D printing. Grayson took a material al