Amazing how far Medical Technology has come

[Kaido]

Been seeing some prosthetics and other related devices pop up on electronic news blogs lately...did a quick search and was amazed at what you can do now:

Artificial Heart

Bionic Ear

Laser Surgery for your Eyes

Robotic Ankle

Robotic Leg (well, knee)

Robotic Hand (all 5 fingers work!)

Artificial Arm

Replacement Joints (shoulders, hips, and knees)

Not to mention hair, genitals, reconstructive plastic surgery, teeth, and so on. Here are some other goodies:

Nanogenerators for your Veins

RFID Chip for your Hand

Prosthetic Paw for your Dog

It's a nice time to be alive :thumbsup:

 

[everman]

Popular Science had a good list a while back, there was a set of lungs too. We should be able to create blood cells that are self propelled and can oxygenate themselves, negating the need for a pump (heart) and lungs.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Who needs a clone when you can build a new, healthy person? :laugh:

 

[Syrch]

yeah it really is interesting and it just keeps getting better.

 

[NanoStuff]

At least some of those are decades old.

 

[TheGizmo]

Originally posted by: everman
Popular Science had a good list a while back, there was a set of lungs too. We should be able to create blood cells that are self propelled and can oxygenate themselves, negating the need for a pump (heart) and lungs.

Whoa seriously? any links/articles you can forward me to on that subject? Thats wild.

 

[TheGizmo]

they even have cameras now that you can use as eyes.. somehow the camera is connected to your tongue because your tongue has so many 'sensor' like things that it can use to interpret what is being read on the camera through some sort of impulses. your tongue has what you might consider a high resolution for interpreting signals from the camera. so you can use the camera and your tongue, after a few years of practice you should be able to see with your tongue... pretty crazy

 

[Bateluer]

Not worth it, unless the replacements offer superior functionality to the originals.

When I can run at 60mph, bench a tractor, breathe water, etc, then I can consider getting some prosthetics.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Not worth it, unless the replacements offer superior functionality to the originals.

When I can run at 60mph, bench a tractor, breathe water, and make this cool noise while doing it, then I can consider getting some prosthetics.

Fixed

 

[Oceandevi]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
Not worth it, unless the replacements offer superior functionality to the originals.

When I can run at 60mph, bench a tractor, breathe water, etc, then I can consider getting some prosthetics.

You don't want to be a robotic cripple? Amazing..

 

[everman]

Originally posted by: TheGizmo

Originally posted by: everman
Popular Science had a good list a while back, there was a set of lungs too. We should be able to create blood cells that are self propelled and can oxygenate themselves, negating the need for a pump (heart) and lungs.

Whoa seriously? any links/articles you can forward me to on that subject? Thats wild.

The blood cells idea is something I read in the book "The Singularity Is Near", by Ray Kurzweil. I don't think it's his idea so there should be more info out there via google. It is a really cool idea. I highly recommend reading the book too, not that I take all of it seriously, but it's fun.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Kaido
Not to mention hair, genitals, reconstructive plastic surgery, teeth, and so on. Here are some other goodies:

They have a robotic dick?

Umm, does it come in all sizes? I ask because a friend of mine, you see...

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: everman
We should be able to create blood cells that are self propelled and can oxygenate themselves, negating the need for a pump (heart) and lungs.

Not really, no. Well, yes, eventually, but not with the 'artificial blood cells' you're referring to. Erythrocytes do more than just deliver oxygen, these synthetic versions only do that one thing, although very well. I believe something like this has already been tested on divers, the oxygen saturated nanocapsules allowed them to comfortably 'dive' for some minutes at a time without equipment. There was no oxygen generation, just stored oxygen.

 

[everman]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: everman
We should be able to create blood cells that are self propelled and can oxygenate themselves, negating the need for a pump (heart) and lungs.

Not really, no. Well, yes, eventually, but not with the 'artificial blood cells' you're referring to. Erythrocytes do more than just deliver oxygen, these synthetic versions only do that one thing, although very well. I believe something like this has already been tested on divers, the oxygen saturated nanocapsules allowed them to comfortably 'dive' for some minutes at a time without equipment. There was no oxygen generation, just stored oxygen.

I'm not referring to the artificial blood we have today, this idea is far beyond that. These are actually autonomous nanobots capable of obtaining oxygen from the air (theoretically the water too), and transporting it to wherever needed. They could be so efficient that they could hold enough oxygen for you to dive without a tank for at least a few minutes. They're self propelled so you need no heart, no lungs, they could even do filtration tasks your liver and kidneys do.

This is way out there, nanotechnology, AI, and robotics need to progress greatly. It is theoretically possible.