Bionic Men and Women - Essay Example

Mechanical enhancements have already been accepted by the society with simple aids like glasses and contact lenses employed to aid the eyesight of individuals. Complex mechanical enhancements are also being witnessed, with prosthetic limbs, hearing aids among others being incorporated into the human body through implants. Machines, which include ventilators, incubators among others, clearly show the extent at which technology has advanced. These technological developments come with ethical responsibilities with question arising just how far a human being should enhance their body with technology.

The society should also consider how dependant it will become on technology, and how money should be allocated for the purpose of technological therapies. Mechanical prosthetics Generations ago, it would have been inconceivable that it will be a possibility for a human being to incorporate mechanical implants into their body functions. The modern society, however, has accepted the idea of technology being employed to aid with the functions of the human anatomy. This comes in the form of use of prosthetic limbs in place of natural missing ones, hearing aids, pacemakers to rectify heart problems and numerous other applications.

Earlier versions of implants were mostly inert, but this is not the case with modern ones. Some implants being used currently perform complex and intricate functions in the human body. This comes because of the incorporation of different disciplines that include biology, electronic and mechanics. This resulted in the improvement of devices universally referred to as biomechatronics (Herzfeld 2009). Current devices of this nature are created in such a way that they are directly connected with the psychological together, with or separately, with the neurological functions of the body.

This makes their incorporation seamless and appears as part of the human body as compared to the earlier versions of mechanical aids. This is mainly attributed to the developments and research evident this field. To get a clear picture at the direction where the field of prosthetics is heading one should consider the recent developments being realized in the development of the prosthetic hand. The scientists at the prestigious John Hopkins’ department of applied physics, in 2006, made a breakthrough after being able to harness the signals that originate from the brain in order to facilitate movement of the fingers of a prosthetic hand.

They also went further by being able to facilitate the sensing of temperature differences. Sensors in place relating to flexible force have the ability to detect the amount of force that the prosthetic hand is applying on objects. The communication of the sensors was facilitated by the patient’s skin, while others were incorporated into the muscle of the patient. These developments are remarkable though the scientists are still trying to achieve the ultimate goal of wiring these sensors into the central nervous system.

The recent developments in the prosthetic limbs have made them more efficient than the tradition mechanical limbs, in that, the limbs are now enabled to grasp objects as a response to muscle stimuli. This, however, has a downside since the skin, which is crucial for the role of sensing, is bulky and has a range of movement that is limited (Herzfeld 2009). Other Biomechatronic Devices However, other