Increasing the response of prosthetics

     Nano-machines , because of their small size and advanced programming, as well as large numbers, can increase reaction speed in a machine or other device. This proposes a possibility that prosthetics could be made with nanotechnology to operate nearly instantaneously, just as a human arm would, by reading the neural patterns in a persons brain and transmitting them to the prosthetic at speeds as quick as the biological system. Signals sent from the brain that are meant for very small movements could be read by the nanobots and reported to the prosthetic device giving amputees the freedom to move all five fingers in very fine ways.

     Another possibility is that the actual machinery inside a prosthetic arm could be replaced with nanobots that can operate seamlessly and do not have the slow, heavy, machine "feel" that current robotic prosthetics do. Another advantage of nanotechnology is that, because they are a group of millions of minute machines rather than one large machine, they require almost no power to operate and can, in theory, run off the bio-electric field of a human being.

Transmitting through the human body

    The microscopic size of nanobots limits their transmitting range.  There would need to be millions upon millions of them in a person's blood stream to thoroughly transmit the neuron signals from the  brain to the muscles of the body. Fortunately, having millions of nanobots inside your body does not pose even a slight health risk. However,  there are problems.

     For example, after injecting nanobots into a person's bloodstream, how do they get to the precise locations in the amputee's limb where they can operate properly? This problem can be overcome by using our knowledge of the human circulatory system (Ceren, 2003).  Nanobots can be injected at a point where they will flow to the cluster of blood vessels that gather at the amputee's partial appendage and they will be programmed to stay there and form a chain at specific points of the neural network.  This will enable them to transmit neural signals to the prosthetic.  Once the nanobots are correctly positioned they can begin transmitting signals and the amputee will have a prosthetic that needs no batteries and simulates, in a more real way, the operations of a human limb. 

 

(American Medical Association, 2003).

     By injecting nanobots into the brachial artery, they would naturally flow to the cluster of blood vessels at the amputee's limb where they would begin to form a chain up the appendage and into the midbrain area of the brain stem which controls muscle movement (Johnson,2002). In this way, neural signals can be relayed nearly instantaneously to the "nanobotic" prosthetic arm.

     We believe Nano-technology could make prosthetics for future patients as efficient as possible and the closest thing they will have to real limbs.  Until then, those currently researching the ways robotics can be used must stick to simpler solutions. 

    One simpler solution we have been working on is the idea of proprioceptive feeling.  The arm or leg of a human develops a wide range of motion and we know when our limbs are in certain positions based on that feeling.  For example, we can reach over and turn on a light switch without actually looking at our arm and where it goes.  For those who have lost even part of a limb, the proprioceptive feeling changes drastically. 

    One way to allow some of the proprioceptive feeling back might be to place sensors in the prosthesis that can determine whether it is up or down, in front of the person or behind the person.  Once these spatial sensors are calibrated during the rehab process, they will communicate by emitting a small electrical pulse to various parts of the partial appendage.  In this way, we hope to restore some of the proprioceptive feeling that is lost when one loses a  limb. 

     We believe that advancements of this kind might help us produce successful ways to better the lives of those who have lost limbs.  The future of research and development in the area of prosthetics looks promise a life of more comfort and convenience for amputees.