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Jewish World Review
Oct. 1, 2013/ 27 Tishrei, 5774
The real-life Bionic Man
By
Dave Ross
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
"We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was..." starts the opening to "The Six Million Dollar Man."
That of course was just a TV show. But step by step bionic technology is becoming real: "The simplest way to explain it - we've rewired him."
We've seen an Olympic Athlete compete on prosthetic feet. I once shook hands with an injured soldier with a mechanical hand that he controls using the remaining muscles in his arm.
But there has never been a mechanical limb that could be controlled the way a natural limb is controlled - directly by the brain.
Until now.
"I seamlessly walk up a set of stairs - and just go up foot over foot up the stairs, like you do," says Zac Vawter.
Four years ago, Vawter, a software engineer from Yelm, was injured in a motorcycle accident - and lost almost all of his right leg. He was fitted with a standard prosthetic leg which him to stand and walk, but his surgeon turned out to be an expert in rewiring nerves, and thought it would work on Zac.
So he was sent to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago where research scientist Levi Hargrove worked as a part of a program funded by the Army to design a bionic leg that could be controlled directly by the nerve impulses which were still being sent from Zach's brain to the leg that was no longer there.
"So you just think about moving along, the device pushes you along, pushes you up stairs, helps control you when you walk downstairs. And it does everything in a seamless manner," explained Hargrove.
And the first time Zac was hooked up, and tried it, "It was a pretty amazing experience because I hadn't moved my ankle in a way that I could see for two years."
For now, Zac can only use it a week at at time while he's at the Chicago Clinic and it still has bugs to work out - for example, he can't run with it, only walk.
But the army is hoping that maybe five years from now losing a limb just means you get a new one.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here. Dave Ross hosts the Morning News on Seattle's KIRO Radio weekdays from 5-9 a.m. He spends his down time tinkering with electronic projects, writing novelty songs, shopping at thrift stores, and playing squash. As an avid hiker, he's earned the title Energizer Bunny from his friends; while they all stop to see stuff along the trail, Dave keeps going and going and going. He enjoys traveling internationally for work and pleasure with memorable stops in Baghdad, Qatar, Israel, Prague, Germany (to cover the Berlin Wall), China, Soviet Union, Niger, Senegal, and Iran.
You can listen to his daily column in audio format by clicking here.
Previously:
• 09/30/13 The pilot exits the F-16 and it takes off without him
• 09/25/13 Human nature of everyday sadists demonstrated with bug grinder
• 09/23/13 Don't worry about the Sun, worry about . . .
• 09/19/13 The most dangerous person to search for on the Internet is . . .
• 09/18/13 The UN --- and the delicate art of doing nothing
• 09/16/13 The Internet Must Go!
• 08/29/13 When hospitals make you sicker
• 08/28/13 Smarter phone anticipates your behavior before you do
• 08/27/13 Getting tested for your dream job
• 08/26/13 A thug tells us how to stop gun trafficking
• 08/23/13 The better to see you with, Mr. Bad guy
• 08/22/13 The latest outburst of anarchy
• 08/21/13 Send al Qeda to crime ridden cities?
• 08/20/13 How honeybees are keeping men out of prison
• 08/19/13 Truth about Area 51 finally revealed
• 08/16/13 If you knew how much it cost to raise a child
• 08/15/13 The voice in the nursery
• 08/14/13 When license plates speak
• 08/13/13 The plant that wouldn't die
• 08/12/13 Class warfare at 35,000 feet is just fine
• 08/09/13 Want a good night's sleep? Become homeless
• 08/08/13 When eating too healthy becomes a problem
• 08/07/13 The Die Phone
• 08/06/13 Can't afford a doctor or medicine? There's always the Placebo App
• 08/05/13 Car prowlers taught lesson with call to mom
© 2013, Dave Ross
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