Do you remember the TV series "The Six Million Dollar Man" which was released by the ABC network in the 70s? It was a story of a former astronaut, Colonel Steve Austin who suffered a catastrophic crash during a flight, leaving him with all but one limb destroyed, blind in one eye, and many other injuries. After Austin destroyed limbs are built with nuclear powered prostheses he gained superhuman strength due to the bionic implants!
Colonel Austin was outfitted with two new legs capable of propelling him at great speed, and a bionic left arm with almost human dexterity and the strength of a battering ram. One of the fingers of the hand incorporates a poison dart gun. Not to mention his left eye that was replaced with a miniature camera giving him a superior vision!
The series was based on a great science fiction novel by Martin Caidin called Cyborg! But is that all still science fiction?
When Oscar Pistorius (often known as “Blade Runner”) became the first amputee sprinter to compete with able-bodied athletes for the men’s 400 m at the 2012 Olympics in London, the achievement raised the question of whether disabled athletes would ever outcompete their able-bodied counterparts.
The story doesn't end there! Oscar Pistorius was using carbon fiber blades which can store and release energy like a spring. But what happens when the prosthetic implants have their own source of energy?
In the past decade there has been a significant progress in integrating lost human functions and motor skills with high tech prostheses. I have personally invested the last two years of my life doing research on powered ankle-foot prostheses. We tested this computer controlled and battery powered ankle-foot prostheses on amputees at Mayo Clinic! The results were encouraging and soon we'll see more and more amputees with bionic legs that will give them the ability to walk as well as normal humans and in some cases outperform us!
