One of the most remarkable innovations in modern medicine is neural prosthetics. These are tiny bioengineered devices surgeons place in brain tissue to compensate various disabilities. Cochlear implants have been a success for the hearing impaired. Future research programs will focus on helping epileptics, Alzheimer’s patients, and those who have lost limbs or suffered spinal cord injury.
The potential for micro implants that can detect electrical and chemical signals from our nervous system, to stimulate sensory function is a huge area of research for neuroscientists. These amazing devices can bypass damaged neural lines in the body and restore function. The cochlear prosthetics convert sounds from a small microphone into electrical signals that can be used to stimulate deaf patients’ auditory nerves.
Researchers and developers of neural prosthetics are being carried out by neurologists, orthopedic and material surgeons, as well as mechanical and mechanical engineers. The National Institutes of Health annually funds $6.5 Million in research and development.
Engineers play a key role in the interdisciplinarity of research and development for neural prosthetics. Engineers will need to be able to use innovative materials to create and fabricate devices that can sustain electronic functioning in the environment of a human body. This is without the risk of tissue infection or other serious conditions. The technology that allows micro devices to safely be implanted in human tissue has been the focus of research efforts. Sarah Felix, an engineer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who is also a member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASPME), is a researcher.ASMEThis is because thin-film flexible, polymer materials allow devices to mold to the tissue in which they are embedded.
Lawrence Livermore currently develops neural implants that can help control depression and epilepsy, as well as restore motor, bladder, and auditory function. The lab will also be experimenting with deep brain stimulation and spinal cord simulation. This will allow physicians to develop neural prosthetics that can improve human health and rehabilitation.
Some of the most respected medical research centers in the U.S. are currently conducting promising clinical trials as the scientific community continues its work to develop neural prosthetics that can help people with disabilities achieve their highest quality of living. For years, neural prosthetics is sure to be a promising avenue of engineering and multidisciplinary scientific research.
