Design: A Look into the Future of Prosthetics
From: Medical Device Link - 05/08/2009

I had the pleasure of hearing industry pioneer Gerald Loeb, MD, speak last
night about the future of prosthetics and robotics. He spoke at Stuart Karten
Design in Marina del Rey, CA. Loeb, who is a professor of biomedical
engineering at USC, is one of the original developers of the cochlear implant. 

"I have no patience with technology that isn’t well designed, and I’ve seen a
lot of medical technology that is badly designed," he said. The desire of
designers to solve the big problems can get in the way of, he said. Those
problems - make the deaf hear, make the blind see, and make the lame walk -
are all loft goals. "Making the deaf hear - we’ve done that. Making the blind
see - that may or may not be feasible. Making the lame walk? That may be the
wrong goal," he said. 

What is possible, he said, is working with the upper extremities using tiny
injectable neurostimulators to activate weak and paralyzed muscles. "We
needed to get rid of the wires," he said. The BIONs, which Loeb invented, can
create functional movement. To do this, he said, you need to coordinate a
feedback system and you need signal processing. Applications include stroke
patients, flexural contractures, and osteoarthritis. 

Loeb also talked about some exciting advances in biomimetic tactile sensing,
replicating the skin’s ability to feel in the fingers of prosthetic hands.
Using an array that consists of a rigid core surrounded by a salt water, a
sensor in the finger pad becomes part of the transduction process.  

Like the cochlear implant, Loeb said it may take years before people really
start to notice these breakthroughs, but one day I suspect that a tactile
sensing prosthetic will be the norm for patients who have lost their arms. 

From:
http://www.devicelink.com/mddi/blog/?p=1246

Links:
Stuart Karten Design
http://www.kartendesign.com/

Researchers in USC’s Biomimetic MicroElectronic Systems Center are poised to
  build the most lifelike limbs ever imagined
http://bme.usc.edu/news/news/a-revolution-in.htm
http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/news/2006/a-revolution-in.htm

Gerald Loeb
http://www.usc.edu/programs/pibbs/site/faculty/loeb_g.htm
http://www.usc.edu/programs/neuroscience/faculty/profile.php?fid=49
http://bme.usc.edu/directory/faculty/primary-faculty/gerald-e-loeb/

Engineering the Future
http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/publications/uscengineer/2005_fall/ft_loeb.htm