Biocybernetics

Citation

Rudall, B.H. (2001), "Biocybernetics", Kybernetes, Vol. 30 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/k.2001.06730baa.003

Biocybernetics

Biocybernetics

1. 1.

   Bionic hand

   Reports in the UK media describe a remarkable bionic hand that is entirely new and innovative in its design and capabilities. Designed by a team of bionic engineers at Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, it is called Prodigits, and has an electrically-powered thumb and forefinger intended for use by those who have lost part, but not all of their hand. It has already proved its capabilities and the developers say that:

   Five disabled children who have never been able to play with toy bricks, grip bicycle handlebars or open a bag of sweets for themselves have demonstrated how the new artificial hand has made all those pleasures possible.

   The children have been using two versions of the powered hand. The first uses a tiny pressure pad to activate motors when the pressure from the wrist is applied inside a special cuff. The second version uses a silicone rubber interface between the prosthesis and the child's wrist. Buried in it are electrodes that pick up signals from the muscles and activate the hand.

   The leader of the development team, David Gow, of Lothian Primary Care NHS Trust in Edinburgh, believes that:

   A similar form of mechanics could be used to power artificial shoulder and elbow joints. It is hoped that the new hand will be more widely available once further trials are completed.

   The makers of the hand are now looking to developing a hand to be used by adults. They believe that once one is made small enough for children, making it bigger will be easier. There is also the problem of being able to replace the hand as children grow older.

   How the hand works. The hand works, the reports tell us, by:

   1. 1.

      Small movement of the remaining wrist against pressure pad activates worm motors.

   2. 2.

      Worm motor corkscrews – the cog is fixed to the structure of the artificial hand.

   3. 3.

      Corkscrew rotation of worm motor causes whole digit to rotate about the fixed cog – the finger group has a similar worm and cog movement.

   The developers say that the resulting grip from the powered fingers is strong enough to hold toys, books or schoolbags and even to use scissors. Prodigits protype costs about £1,000 for each hand. The device itself is electronic and has an electrically powered thumb. It has been hailed as being extremely successful after its six-month trial with children of different ages and circumstances.

   Biocyberneticians will be delighted at the verdicts of those who took part in the trial. Even after the toughest tests it was described as "allows children to play on equal terms with the rest of the family" ; "Has transformed the quality of life for the child"; and the greatest tribute to a designer: "This hand is different; it works". As with any prototype it was found to have its limitations, but the designers are already actively engaged in working on ways of improving it still further.

2. 2.

   Smart spectacles

   Scientists have reported on the development of "smart spectacles" and Dr Pablio Artal of the University of Murcia, Spain is developing a pair to combat temporary imperfections in the eye.

   Smart spectacles are described as such because they continually change shape to correct temporary imperfections in the eye. It is claimed that they can double the sharpness of vision. Even people with 20-20 vision can see more clearly when wearing the computer-controlled glasses, their inventor has claimed.

   Unfortunately, they are hardly at a marketable stage of development, since the computer needed to control the glasses takes up to 9 sq.ft of desk space.

   Whilst conventional spectacles made of glass or plastic correct for poor focusing and astigmatism, most people do have other faults which, for example, vary as their pupils dilate.

   These new devices use adaptive optics technology, which is used in astronomy to counter the twinkling of stars. In adaptive optics telescopes the light from stars bounces off a mirror which changes shape to compensate for the distortions caused by fluctuations in the atmosphere. Dr Artal's prototype spectacles apparently do the same thing for temporary imperfections in the eye. He says that the key optical component is very small and cheap, and everything sharpens up as you switch on.

   The system works by sending a low intensity infrared laser beam into the eye, where it is then bounced off the retina and into a sensor via a flexible mirror. A computer then determines how much the beam has been distorted and alters the shape of the mirror to compensate.