Ideas Documentary
By: Julie S. Ratner
From: San Francisco Magazine - Janyary 2000 - page 48


The Hand Smart Prosthetic
Today, amputees are limited to prosthetic devices that perform basic
functions. But a smart hand in the works would give its owner the movements
and sensations required for mastering chopsticks. Doctors such as Edward
Diao, director of the UCSF Hand Center, plan to wire severed nerves to the
hand, giving patients newfound dexterity. In recent studies resembling a kind
of telepathic video game, UCSF researchers sutured electrodes onto amputees'
healthy nerves. The electrodes are connected to a computer, and patients are
directed to move an object as if their hand were still attached. Electronic
signals from their nerves pass through the electrodes, moving a cursor across
the screen. While a smart hand is at least five years away, Diao says the
computer simulations prove that "real-time sensory feedback and motor control
of a neuroprosthetic limb is possible, allowing an amputee to execute
movements that mimic a normal 


The Brain Deep Brain Stimulation
Today, Bay Area pioneers Dr. Philip Starr, Dr. Gary Heit, and Dr. Laszlo
Tamas are using deep brain stimulation to treat Parkinson's disease and other
debilitating movement disorders. "Deep brain stimulation is the most
significant new development in the treatment of Parkinson's since the
introduction of effective medications in the 1960s," says Starr. After
drilling a tiny hole in a patient's skull (done using only local anesthesia),
doctors plant a thin metal electrode with the diameter of spaghetti in the
targeted area. A pulse generator is also implanted under the skin. Using a
handheld computer, doctors can electronically stimulate the area and reduce
the tremors of Parkinson's. 


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