神经修复学中值得注意的两个技术

欢迎到neurosociety group讨论相关话题：）

这次带来的是比较NB的生物医学工程技术。人工耳蜗（cochlear implant）是上个世纪生物医学工程的一个很重要的进步（下一步会不会出现人工海马体），但是诞生之后却花了很长时间才被广泛应用。下面的文章对两种技术表达了相同的观点。一个是仿生触觉传感（biomimetic tactile sensing），另一个是植入式神经刺激器（injectable neurostimulator）。前者用来复制人类的触觉，让机器人拥有触觉的同时或许可以治疗某些疾病。后者（是块芯片）除了可以刺激有神经损伤的肌肉，或许未来还可以直接植入鼠脑（人脑？）代替生物微电极。

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从 DeviceTalk 作者：sherrie

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.