Office by Alex Penny
Well hey there! Name's Paul Cooper, I'm an Engineer for RED at 5Gorge. If ya got somethin' ya want tinkered with, or ya just wanna shoot the breeze, I'd be happy to oblige.
Anonymous: Beauty and the Beast, The Star Money, and The Snow Queen
Beauty and the Beast: What makes a person beautiful in your eyes?
Fascination. There’s nothing more beautiful than seein’ someone fascinated by somethin’ they love.
The Star Money: What is your most prized possesion?
Hmmm, I guess my guitar. I’ve had it the longest and I can’t really imagine goin’ anywhere without it.
The Snow Queen: Who is your best friend and what would you do for them?
Ben and George are my closest friends, and I’d do about anything for either of ‘em.
World premiere of muscle and nerve controlled arm prosthesis
For the first time an operation has been conducted, at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, where electrodes have been permanently implanted in nerves and muscles of an amputee to directly control an arm prosthesis. The result allows natural control of an advanced robotic prosthesis, similarly to the motions of a natural limb.
A surgical team led by Dr Rickard Brånemark, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, has carried out the first operation of its kind, where neuromuscular electrodes have been permanently implanted in an amputee. The operation was possible thanks to new advanced technology developed by Max Ortiz Catalan, supervised by Rickard Brånemark at Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Bo Håkansson at Chalmers University of Technology.
“The new technology is a major breakthrough that has many advantages over current technology, which provides very limited functionality to patients with missing limbs,” says Rickard Brånemark.
Big challenges
There have been two major issues on the advancement of robotic prostheses: 1) how to firmly attach an artificial limb to the human body; 2) how to intuitively and efficiently control the prosthesis in order to be truly useful and regain lost functionality.“This technology solves both these problems by combining a bone anchored prosthesis with implanted electrodes,” said Rickard Brånemark, who along with his team has developed a pioneering implant system called Opra, Osseointegrated Prostheses for the Rehabilitation of Amputees.
A titanium screw, so-called osseointegrated implant, is used to anchor the prosthesis directly to the stump, which provides many advantages over a traditionally used socket prosthesis.
“It allows complete degree of motion for the patient, fewer skin related problems and a more natural feeling that the prosthesis is part of the body. Overall, it brings better quality of life to people who are amputees,” says Rickard Brånemark.
How it works
Presently, robotic prostheses rely on electrodes over the skin to pick up the muscles electrical activity to drive few actions by the prosthesis. The problem with this approach is that normally only two functions are regained out of the tens of different movements an able-body is capable of. By using implanted electrodes, more signals can be retrieved, and therefore control of more movements is possible. Furthermore, it is also possible to provide the patient with natural perception, or “feeling”, through neural stimulation.“We believe that implanted electrodes, together with a long-term stable human-machine interface provided by the osseointegrated implant, is a breakthrough that will pave the way for a new era in limb replacement,” says Rickard Brånemark.
The patient
The first patient has recently been treated with this technology, and the first tests gave excellent results. The patient, a previous user of a robotic hand, reported major difficulties in operating that device in cold and hot environments and interference from shoulder muscles. These issues have now disappeared, thanks to the new system, and the patient has now reported that almost no effort is required to generate control signals. Moreover, tests have shown that more movements may be performed in a coordinated way, and that several movements can be performed simultaneously.“The next step will be to test electrical stimulation of nerves to see if the patient can sense environmental stimuli, that is, get an artificial sensation. The ultimate goal is to make a more natural way to replace a lost limb, to improve the quality of life for people with amputations,” says Rickard Brånemark.
We’ve done it.
We have actual real cyborgs.
I’ve been waiting for this day since I was eight.
I looked at this and thought of Engineer
(Source: applebears, via tf2shitfest)
As soon as Paul begins speaking the Scout zips over to her desk and begins furiously taking notes in her battle journal. She’d never been the best or brightest student - her attention was so often entirely unfocused and fleeting - but if the subject matter caught her just right, her concentration increased tenfold. And “how to be a better mercenary” is just the sort of subject she likes. Nodding along with the Engineer’s words to signal her attentiveness, Molly glances up periodically from her writing.
“Yeah, I know, but it’s so hard not to fight when they’re calling you out. Where I come from, you get a bad rep for backin’ down from that kinda thing.” When Paul is finished, she drops her pencil and looks at him with quiet awe. “Man, you know a lot, Engie. How long ya been doin’ this?”
Paul gives the Scout a sympathetic nod. “Oh, I know, and chances are they know too. And lemme tell ya, after endin’ up in respawn plenty ‘a times, you’ll find that it really ain’t worth it.”
His grin turns into a frown as he thinks back for a moment. “Uh lessee…started in January of ‘66 so…wow, goin’ on my fourth year now. Time really flies when you’re killin’ and dyin’ every week.”
