The article I came across was titled "Top 10- Biomedical Engineering Innovations in the Last Decade" and number one on its list was an artificial heart. Previous artificial hearts required the patient to be bed ridden and hooked up to tubes and electrical power lines that passed through their skin, but this new innovation only requires the patient to have a battery pack that can be hooked onto their belt. (Tripathi 1) This means that the patient can move around freely and doesn't require tubes or electrical lines passing through their skin.
This astounded me since I never knew that they had actually made an artificial heart before. What I found even more crazy was the fact that they have already successfully implanted one of these artificial hearts into a patient in 2001.
Another thing I found to be interesting in this article was a bionic contact lens that was made by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle. This contact lens is imprinted with an electronic circuit and places computerized images into the wearer's view. The contact lens could be used by pilots or drivers in the future and provide driving routes and weather and vehicle information. It also may have the ability to monitor a person's health and wirelessly send the collected information to a computer (Tripathi 4).
Lastly, an invention named eLEGS was developed by Berkeley Bionics. This invention is an exoskeleton that enhances strength and improves mobility and can be used by paraplegics at home to help them walk and climb stairs (Tripathi 9). The exoskeleton has the potential to help many wheelchair-ridden patients walk for hours and could help stop many of the disabilities caused by sitting for long periods of time (Austin 1).
All of these inventions seem as though they're straight out of some futuristic movie, but they are coming to life right in front of us. Biomedical engineers really do work to make some incredible inventions, but all that hard work pays off when they make someone's life better. Learning about these innovations in the field really excites me about becoming a biomedical engineer and I hope that one day I will be working on projects like these.
Works Cited
Tripathi, Kush. "Top 10- Biomedical Engineering Innovations in the Last Decade." BiomediKal.in. BiomediKal.in, 30 July 2011. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.
"Austin." Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory. Berkeley Robotics and Human Engineering Laboratory, Web. 19 Sept. 2013.
Wow these inventions astounded me as well. I have no idea how someone would be able to essentially "make" a heart and it does seem like something out of a sci-fi movie.
ReplyDeleteIs most of the reason behind these inventions being missed in the main stream media because of their cost? The only reason i could think of them not being around would be because they are so expensive to, for example, replace someone's heart?
These really are amazing. Still it would feel a bit risky for me to trust something as important as my heart to a battery pack that clips on my belt. All i can say is better use Duracell...... Price must be reason these aren't widely used by more people. Still, those are some pretty fascinating innovations.
ReplyDeleteThis post really surprised me! These inventions sound awesome and without biomedical engineers they wouldn't be possible. I love that this type of thing interests you and I can't wait to see where it'll take you in the future!
ReplyDeleteThese inventions are so amazing!!! I can't believe these types of things are even possible now! I think it is so cool that you will get to work on projects like this one day! Do you have any idea when inventions like this might start to become more popular and more widely used around us?
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