I want to be a cyborg but after seeing how tech, especially software, has developed (like, I don’t even really want to buy a new car because how tf am I gonna fix it), I don’t think I can trust it. Imagine if your ears’ firmware just stops being supported.
Any cybernetics would have to be built for me by a hobbyist with a workshop full of Raspberry Pis or something
Yeah, plus the “cutting edge” prosthetic tech we currently have is mostly overhyped marketing.
There are about a dozen powered prosthetics I always see on social media that always look really cool and the “patients” always go on and on about how useful it is…What people don’t realize is those “patients” are being paid by the manufacturer, and usually part of the deal is that they get the limb for free.
They don’t tell you about having to wear a heavy battery pack that only lasts for a couple hours. They don’t tell you that you have to pre-program routines like tying your shoe laces. That you have to purposely concentrate on flexing residual muscle groups in your limb to activate those routines. Nor do they tell you that the majority of patients who own those devices usually revert back to a manual prosthetic for functional tasks, or just choose not to wear a prosthetic at all because they can achieve more function with their stumps.
While prosthetics have started looking more futuristic and functional, unfortunately we haven’t really advanced any technology that actually improves function and utility since the late 90’s. And I highly doubt we’ll ever make a prosthetic that provides more utility than the limb it’s replacing, not in our lifetime at least.
Yeah, that can be an issue with some of the more advanced knee units and upper limb devices if they are being done by a private clinic and being purchased by a private insurance or a workers comp case.
Luckily Medicare and most Medicaid programs dictate that the clinic that fabricates the limb also maintains the limb until the patient qualifies for a new one.
I remember many years ago there was some study being done into deer antler as a way to integrate implants with zero chance of rejection (something about deer antler being bone that penetrates through the skin without causing any problems), and something about using squid cartilage for implanting circuitry for similar reasons, but the coolest advancement that I’ve seen for prosthetics has been 3d printing.
I saw an open source project for 3d printing prosthetic limbs with a focus on making affordable prosthetics for kids since they grow so quickly they need new fittings quickly as well. And beyond that, I haven’t heard of pretty much anything new in easily decades. The fact that much of our prosthetics technology isn’t that different from what they had in the Civil War is sad.
saw an open source project for 3d printing prosthetic limbs with a focus on making affordable prosthetics for kids since they grow so quickly they need new fittings quickly as well.
Unfortunately 3d printing has mainly been a bit of a gimmick in the field of prosthetics, especially the more diy projects. Most people think that prosthetics is an engineering field with a side of medicine, when in reality it’s more of a medical field with a side of engineering.
The project you were referring to never really took off because it ended up being detrimental to the patient’s long-term health. With how quickly children adapt to their conditions, if you don’t provide them with a prosthetic that provides more utility than their residual limb, they end up adapting to never wearing any prosthetic. Which in turn can vastly lower their mobility and ability to interact with their environments.
The fact that much of our prosthetics technology isn’t that different from what they had in the Civil War is sad.
I wouldn’t say it’s quite that bad. I mean I did carve a wooden socket in school, but haven’t ever seen one in a clinic setting. Prosthetic tech really advanced in the 90s with the introduction of materials like carbon fiber, titanium, new thermoplastics, and advanced mechanical knee units. With the amount of repetitive ground force reaction a human body can produce in motions, our field is pretty limited by the advancement of material science.
People with bionic eye implants are going blind again after the gadget expired inside their bodies. More than 350 people have a discontinued retinal implant in their eyeballs. The invention was once a cutting-edge option for restoring sight, but it has been replaced by newer technologies.
In a loose sense, any implant makes you a cyborg, in a more strict sense implants that control something in your body do. Heart rate control by a pacer, insulin level control by an implant, hearing aid, some more complicated implants all make you a cyborg but usually not the cyborg one imagines
I want to be a cyborg but after seeing how tech, especially software, has developed (like, I don’t even really want to buy a new car because how tf am I gonna fix it), I don’t think I can trust it. Imagine if your ears’ firmware just stops being supported.
Any cybernetics would have to be built for me by a hobbyist with a workshop full of Raspberry Pis or something
Open source fitmware or nothing.
and strictly offline
Fitmware = Wetware?
I want an open source electric car.
I would download a car.
Yeah, plus the “cutting edge” prosthetic tech we currently have is mostly overhyped marketing.
There are about a dozen powered prosthetics I always see on social media that always look really cool and the “patients” always go on and on about how useful it is…What people don’t realize is those “patients” are being paid by the manufacturer, and usually part of the deal is that they get the limb for free.
They don’t tell you about having to wear a heavy battery pack that only lasts for a couple hours. They don’t tell you that you have to pre-program routines like tying your shoe laces. That you have to purposely concentrate on flexing residual muscle groups in your limb to activate those routines. Nor do they tell you that the majority of patients who own those devices usually revert back to a manual prosthetic for functional tasks, or just choose not to wear a prosthetic at all because they can achieve more function with their stumps.
While prosthetics have started looking more futuristic and functional, unfortunately we haven’t really advanced any technology that actually improves function and utility since the late 90’s. And I highly doubt we’ll ever make a prosthetic that provides more utility than the limb it’s replacing, not in our lifetime at least.
Plus, a lot of them just end up being no longer supported at all. Oopsie your Planned Obsolescent Leg needs replacing again
Yeah, that can be an issue with some of the more advanced knee units and upper limb devices if they are being done by a private clinic and being purchased by a private insurance or a workers comp case.
Luckily Medicare and most Medicaid programs dictate that the clinic that fabricates the limb also maintains the limb until the patient qualifies for a new one.
I remember many years ago there was some study being done into deer antler as a way to integrate implants with zero chance of rejection (something about deer antler being bone that penetrates through the skin without causing any problems), and something about using squid cartilage for implanting circuitry for similar reasons, but the coolest advancement that I’ve seen for prosthetics has been 3d printing.
I saw an open source project for 3d printing prosthetic limbs with a focus on making affordable prosthetics for kids since they grow so quickly they need new fittings quickly as well. And beyond that, I haven’t heard of pretty much anything new in easily decades. The fact that much of our prosthetics technology isn’t that different from what they had in the Civil War is sad.
Unfortunately 3d printing has mainly been a bit of a gimmick in the field of prosthetics, especially the more diy projects. Most people think that prosthetics is an engineering field with a side of medicine, when in reality it’s more of a medical field with a side of engineering.
The project you were referring to never really took off because it ended up being detrimental to the patient’s long-term health. With how quickly children adapt to their conditions, if you don’t provide them with a prosthetic that provides more utility than their residual limb, they end up adapting to never wearing any prosthetic. Which in turn can vastly lower their mobility and ability to interact with their environments.
I wouldn’t say it’s quite that bad. I mean I did carve a wooden socket in school, but haven’t ever seen one in a clinic setting. Prosthetic tech really advanced in the 90s with the introduction of materials like carbon fiber, titanium, new thermoplastics, and advanced mechanical knee units. With the amount of repetitive ground force reaction a human body can produce in motions, our field is pretty limited by the advancement of material science.
Jockey literally lost his exoskeleton due to end of life.
People with bionic eye implants are going blind again after the gadget expired inside their bodies. More than 350 people have a discontinued retinal implant in their eyeballs. The invention was once a cutting-edge option for restoring sight, but it has been replaced by newer technologies.
Yeah, if everyone started turning into a cyborg, walking becomimg a subscription-based service would be just a question of time.
And by “or something,” you probably mean 3d printers.
In a loose sense, any implant makes you a cyborg, in a more strict sense implants that control something in your body do. Heart rate control by a pacer, insulin level control by an implant, hearing aid, some more complicated implants all make you a cyborg but usually not the cyborg one imagines