Progression of Prosthetics

Prosthetics have vastly improved in the past several decades for individuals who have unfortunately lost a limb due to disease or injury. However, what happens to individuals who are so profoundly and catastrophically injured such as quadriplegics or have suffered debilitating illness? The answer now is round the clock care, numerous assistive devices, and long term hospitalization or significant home modification. The health care costs and insurance funding required for individuals who require such 24 hour attendant care for most activities of daily living is vast.

A new prosthesis on the cutting edge of technology is now off the drawing board, and will in the near future be literally implanted in the brains of severely impaired individuals to allow them the ability to achieve function that was science fiction up until recently. Researchers at Caltech have revolutionized this growing field by using FMRI imaging of the brain to place a pair of small electrode arrays in the brain. Each electrode records the activity of a single neuron. A system of computers processes the signals, decoding the patients intent. This neural prosthesis therefore ferries signals from the brain’s motor cortex to a computer, whose cables are attached to robotic limbs.  A surgeon recently implanted this new prosthesis in a quadriplegic patient. The patient was able to activate a robotic arm to shake someone’s hand, and hold a glass steady enough to drink on his own (Discover Magazine, 100 top Stories of 2015).

This type of technological breakthrough will not only revolutionize how people are cared for, but will change the nature of public health care costs and supplemental insurance funding upon which many disputes and lawsuits are predicated.  Most importantly, it will improve the quality of life and dignity for those most injured, or ill.