Differences

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--- biomechatronics [2011/07/19 19:18] – [OOC: General Rules] hagalaz
+++ biomechatronics [2011/07/24 02:42] (current) – [History] hagalaz
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 ====== Note ======
-//This is a placeholder page until RP Staff hammers out the final details.  For the moment, though, players wishing to create characters with cybernetic enhancements will be considered on a case-by-case basis. - Hagalaz//
+//This page is intended to provide a real-life foundation for artificial limb technology in Furscape.  It is supplemental material, aimed at players wishing to create characters with cybernetic enhancements. - Hagalaz//
 ====== Biomechatronics ======
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 Claudia Mitchell, a former Marine and amputee, tested a prosthetic arm developed by Dr. Todd Kuiken at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. A plastic surgeon, Dr. Gregory Dumainian at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago re-directed the nerves that control her missing arm to her chest. The nerves re-grew close to the skin of her chest. Tiny electrodes on her skin picked up the electrical activity of these nerves and sent signals to the motors in the arm. She was able to control the arm's movements by thinking about it.
-//OOC Note: As of 2011, the prosthetic arm is not truly biomechatronic in that signals only go one way, from Claudia to the arm. Dr. Kuiken is working on the next step of having the arm provide feedback to her, including sensations such as pain and pressure. Note also that this is different than a myoelectric prosthesis (which relies on currents generated by muscle contraction to control the prosthesis) because the sensors involved are detecting nerve activity from the remnants of the subject's median nerve - Hagalaz.//
+//OOC Note: As of 2011, the prosthetic arm is not truly biomechatronic in that signals only go one way, from Claudia to the arm. Dr. Kuiken is working on the next step of having the arm provide feedback to her, including sensations such as pain and pressure. Note also that this is different than a myoelectric prosthesis -- which relies on currents generated by contraction of muscles (for example, in a stump remnant of an amputated limb) to control the prosthesis -- because the sensors involved are detecting nerve activity from the subject's median nerve - Hagalaz.//
-====== OOC: General Rules ======
+With the advent of modern microneurosurgical techniques, it became possible to map the terminii of the brachial and lumbosacral nerve plexuses, allowing for prostheses with more precise movement control, kinesthetic sense, and even limited 'cutaneous' [[neuroprosthetics|sensory]] feedback. The first limb designs to take advantage of these techniques were bulky, but as time passed, it became possible to build limb designs that roughly matched the original limb size while providing a respectable percentage of the original limb's functionality.
-  * Metal is NOT better than meat, just different. Autologous cloned body parts are available in a number of situations.
-  * In addition to being vulnerable to taser-style electrical effects, biomechatronic limbs are also vulnerable to things like EMP and induction heating.
-  * Artificial limbs may be stronger than their meat counterparts, but they're still ultimately anchored to muscle and bone. So, yes, you might be able to crush a cue ball in your hand, but no, you can't lift that truck/vending machine/locomotive over your head.
-  * Like any other event that changes your body structure, a rehabilitation period is required to allow you to learn how to use the replacement limb, as well as for the limb's controllers to learn how to function the way your nervous system wants it to function (feedback adjustments for differentiating grip strength needed for grasping a rock versus an egg, for instance, or learning exactly HOW you walk).
-As always, RP Staff has final say over what's possible.
-- Hagalaz
+One thing that has not changed is the requirement for rehabilitation and training in a controlled environment to allow the host body and new limb to become a single functional unit.
 Keywords:
   * biomechatronics
-  * sieve integrated circuit electrode
   * biomedical engineering
   * multielectrode array