The New Face of Bionics: How Technology is Augmenting Humanity

AI and human hybrids have been the mainstay of Hollywood for decades. But what once was a plot device is fast becoming reality. When combined with humans, AI is envisioned to help us keep up with the pace of technological change.

To assist those with special needs and those with mobility challenges. Plus, there are innovations designed to give humans an edge in an increasingly competitive and volatile world.

Boosting brainpower

One version involves sewing-machine-like robots implanting ultrafine electrodes deep within the human brain. Such technology is touted as a potential cure for neurological conditions like Parkinson’s, paralysis and degenerative brain diseases.

Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind the implants, plans to start trialling the technology in humans from 2020. The implants work by detecting neuron activity and has successfully recorded information from up to 1,500 neurons at once.

Musk has revealed that, so far, “A monkey has been able to control a computer with his brain," during a YouTube Livestream in July 2019. 

Awaiting human trials

So far, the technology averages an 87% success rate in monkey and rat trials. Meaning that a human trial is still a little way off. To get to this point, the success rate in-vivo will have to increase significantly and the implants will be subject to government approval (by the FDA, for instance).

Plus, there are further challenges in making implants that can withstand the inhospitable environment of the brain.

Still, the implications for patient care and rehabilitation are immense. As are the applications for humanity as a whole.

Musk one day envisions the merging of humans and AI as a way to process vast amounts of data within our brains. To type 40 words a minute simply by thinking.

Improved prosthetics

Meanwhile, significant leaps are being made with prosthetic technology. Whereas previously, prosthetics could be clunky and uncomfortable to wear, new developments enable greater comfort and control.

This is especially vital for lower limb prostheses that can cause complications in later life due to socket sores and hip instability. 

Advanced prostheses available today give some degree of mental control through myoelectricity. Electrical signals are detected by sensors to help the prosthetic limb move as desired.

However, these prostheses come with no sensory feedback. Plus, their costs can run into tens of thousands. The Linx System, for instance, is a lower limb prosthetic that automatically adjusts to changes in posture and surfaces. It costs around £20,000 per unit and is therefore unavailable on the National Health Service in England.

High costs

Highlighting a catch-22 situation for the technology and healthcare companies developing advanced bionic solutions. Even when a new technology, like brain implants, becomes available for use in humans, it will remain inaccessible to the majority of the population because of cost. 

Plus, prosthetics must be fitted by a specialist - which is time-consuming and expensive. Making them inaccessible in many developing countries and rural areas.

This is worsened by the need for regular adjustments to ensure a precise fit. Of course, developing countries and conflict zones are disproportionately affected by amputations. Driving up demand with little increase in supply. 

Hope for children

But hope is on the horizon for some patients. The Tej Kohli Foundation, for instance, has funded 3D-printed bionic arms for 10 British children as part of its ‘Future Bionics’ programme.

The Hero arms from Open Bionics can be controlled via electrical signals, with multi-grip functionality that gives a greater range of movement. In other words, it’s helping to give children a better life.

Plus, because the arms are 3D-printed, they can personalise it to their unique style. Turning a disability into a superpower for this select group of children.  

The blind can see

Researchers also have retinal implants in their sights. Opening up a visual world to blind and visually impaired individuals. The implants have approximately 400 photodiodes or “pixels” that replace part of the retina’s spatial map.

Patients with macular degeneration (that destroys photoreceptors, causing vision loss) have tested the implants with some success. 

So far, they are able to recognise objects placed on a table and read printed or on-screen letters. However, more work is needed to shrink the photodiodes to a stage where patients can easily read the words of a book and gain sharper vision. 

Likewise, Second Sight is a company working with blind patients to restore a level of sight via video and an implant on the visual cortex. The brain is fed signals from a glasses-mounted video camera. In testing, four out of five blind patients were able to locate white shapes on a black screen and detect the direction that shapes were travelling in. 

Challenges to address

For now, innovation in bionics is steady. Issues around cost must be resolved. Similarly, concerns around the ethics and safety of devices must be alleviated. Many healthcare professionals, as a whole, are wary of invasive implants that may increase the chances of infection.

Particularly when an intervention is carried out with the potential risks outweigh the benefits - or for no medical reason at all (as is the case with reaching ‘superintelligence’ via brain implants). 

Experimentation on humans is also risky and highly regulated. For a technology like Musk’s implants, there must be thorough animal testing before human trials will take place. Any misstep could delay the technology by decades or shelve it completely. 

Gaining public acceptance

The public’s response to bionics must also be considered. Certain advances, like improved prostheses, will be more readily accepted than others. The ‘ick’ factor is one contributor to this. Alongside concerns about patients being coerced into potential unsafe and untested technology. Or the race towards a human ‘super-species’ that increases social inequality and reduces national defence. 

To address this, there must be greater education around the benefits that bionic technology offers. It is truly life-changing. As the recipients of the Hero arms will testify. 

Plus, one could argue that we, as a race, have already become augmented. Relinquishing various parts of our lives to smart devices, like remembering items, navigating routes and speaking with friends. 

Going forward

Whatever the next steps may be, it is certain that humanity is on a path towards a bionic future. It’s up to us to shape this, by making sure that every patient who needs augmentation gets it and that inequality doesn’t rise because of these developments. That’s the only way for humanity to become a superior race: involving everyone.