1.
Nordqvist ,Christian. “Artificial Limbs Attached Directly To Human Skeleton.” Medical News Today 03 Jul 2006 - 13:00 PST.16Marr2011.
The UK scientists at University College London have developed a new technology called Intraosseous Transcutaneous Amputation Prosthesis (ITAP) that enables artificial limbs directly attached to human skeleton; this new technology allows the artificial limbs breach the skin without the risk of infection. It helps and strengthens the bionic limbs which are controlled by the nervous system. The differences between on this new technology and the used artificial limbs is that the used artificial limbs is fixed to an amputee’s stump which may cause the infection easier and ITAP is letting a metal implant (a titanium rod) passes through the skin into the bone and directly attached with the artificial limbs, as the rob is meshed around by skin tissues, the risk of infection can be avoided. Scientist faced lo of difficulties especially attaching live tissue directly to metal without skin infection, they also have looked at the deer’s’ antlers to get idea.
This new technology facilitates the bionic limbs. As the artificial limbs can directly connected with human skin and body, and the skin and dermal tissues will attach to a metal, the boundary between human and machine in terms of the appearance become blurred. Especially scientist analysis the deer’s antlers to get ideas on how tissues and skin can connect with antlers, the machines and human or animal are more complicated to separate.
2.
N/A. “Smartphone Technology Improves Prosthetic Limbs.” Alpha Galileo. 13 December 2010.16Mar2011
This journal is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) had tried to improve the sense of the orientation of the artificial limb by integrated the “accelerometer” which used in smartphone technology. The accelerometers act as a tool for detecting the changes in gravity or velocity in order to enable the artificial limb easier to operate by determines its orientation.
When amputees use this technology, they can move their prosthesis easier and increase the accuracy of the orientation of their prosthesis. The journal impresses me that prostheses have been already considered in our body part and the scientists are working hard on improving the functions of it. As far as I know the amputees need training to operate their prosthesis, it sounds to me like people go to gym room to train their muscle in order to make the muscle more strong and the beautify their body figure, and the training of the prosthesis is making it more sensitive to the signal from our nerve system in order to make it act more accurate and smooth. The whole things of the prosthesis are like they are alive and they need treatments and trainings like human muscle.
3.
Yoseph, Bar-Cohen. “Bionic Humans Using EAP as Artificial Muscles Reality and Challenges.” ARS. Volume 1, Number 3, September 2004. 16Mar2011.
The journal has mentioned the development of electroactive polymers (EAP) and pointing out that the development of EAP may help on developing artificial muscles as its special feature. The author also examine the further development of EAP
As EAP is very similar to biological muscles like its resiliency, quite in operation, damage tolerance, able on stretching, contacting and bending, it makes EAP suitable for making mechanical devices and robots which have no traditional components. EAP may potentially be able to use on making artificial organ for human.
In this journal, author have also expressed his view on how robot bring benefit to us or how robot help human to explore the world like we use robot in the space to explore other planet. In my point of view, EAP was used to make the robot more human like, for example to express their emotion, or move more smoothly due to EAP ‘sspecial feature. But now, it can be used to make artificial organs for human beings. The things that firstly intend to invent for machine now come up may use in human. It make me wonder if the things were suppose to use in machine now can be use in human, is the machine helping human or human helping the machine? If we have never developed EAP, will human lose the chance on analysis the possibility of artificial organs?
4.
Timothy E. Quill, M.D. “Terri Schiavo — A Tragedy Compounded.” The New England Journal of Medicine. Massachusetts Medical Society. 21April2005. 16Mar2011. P:16330-1633.
This article is talking about a couple Mr. Michael Schiavo and his wife Mrs. Terri Schiavo; Mrs. Schiavo was diagnosed of a persistent vegetative state and being sustained by artificial hydration and nutrition through a deeding tube for 15 years. The neurologic examination shows that she had wakefulness alternating with sleep, reflexive responses to light and noise etc. but these actions have no signs of emotion, therefore, the neurologists and radiologist determine that Mrs. Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state. Therefore, Mr. Schiavo wants to end his wife’s live since it seems painful and meaningful to his wife, but Terri’s parents wants their daughter keep on living through a machine, the conflict end up put into the Court.
As a person in a persistent vegetative stat which means that he or she is live by a machine. Without the machine, he or she will die, so is a person in a persistent vegetative stat equal to a cyborg? Can we say that that person is really “alive”? I would describe that a person in a persistent vegetative state is ran by mechanical power like a robot; yet, he or she may eat human food like water and liquid diet, but they cannot live without electricity. Once the machines which keep them alive were turned off by someone, they will die.
5.
Mohammad Aghighi. “Dialysis in Iran.” Management Center for Transplantation and Special Diseases. Iranian Journal of Kidney Diseases, Jan2008. 16Mar2011. p:11-15.
This is an article about the kidney disease in Iran, the Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have become a problem in Iran. People have kidney will there are different patient will receive different kinds of renal replacement therapies (RRTs). There are three different therapies, the first one is called hemodialysis (HD), second is peritoneal dialysis (PD) and ESPD patient have to undergo kidney transplantation. The article has briefly talked about the clinic centers in Iran and how they operate also the government’s participation in managing the centers.
The article has also mentioned that the patients mostly will receive the dialysis therapy twice or three times a week. Kidney is an organ that controls the blood pressure, filter our blood in order to help us get away the waste and control the water balance inside our body, a very important organ to human. Link it will our topic cyborg, a person need the dialysis machine to maintain their life, can we say that he or she is a cyborg? If you are a HD patient, you may have to go to the clinic three times a week, sitting next to a machine, wait for about 4 hours to let the machine filter your blood. The kidney disease patient may not connect to any machine like those artificial limb or prosthesis, but they need a machine to survive.
By Chan Vhing Yi, Valerie (10349849)
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