Tag: BIONIC

In San Francisco yesterday, Berkeley Bionics showed off its new eLEGS bionic exoskeleton, which will allow paraplegics to stand and walk without human assistance. The 45-pound robo-braces are made from steel and carbon fiber, and can operate for six hours on a single charge using lithium-ion battery packs, according to Engadget. The eLEGS are adjustable for users between 5'2" and 6'4" and ...

Oscar the cat may have nine lives, but, until recently, he only had two feet. Earlier this year, during one of his ritualized field naps, Oscar had a run-in with a foot-swiping crop harvester, which left him bound to the litter box, unable to roll around with his favorite ball of yarn. After being taken to a local Jersey vet, Oscar was referred to Noel Fitzpatrick, a Surrey-based veterinary ...

For just a second, imagine losing the very tool you use to make your livelihood. That sinking feeling in your gut is exactly how Maria Antonia Iglesias, a Spanish concert pianist, felt when she lost all of her fingers in 2003 after developing a health problem. But thanks to a medical and technological breakthrough, there's a light at the end of the tunnel for her -- and possibly others, too. ...

What's good for the goose is good for the... well, everyone. When a two-week-old gosling with a broken leg was brought into Tiggywinkles (yes, we are serious) Animal Hospital in Buckinghamshire, England, the attending veterinarians couldn't bring themselves to euthanize her. Instead, they decided to outfit the goose with a bionic leg -- a first for geese according to the Telegraph (though ...

After suffering a stroke in a hotel room following a US tour with his band, the Long Blondes, guitarist Dorian Cox was left paralyzed down the right side of his body. Even simple movements were made impossible, let alone the ability to play his guitar. Now he's undergoing neurological physiotherapy, which includes training sessions with a mechanical glove called SaeboFlex, which benefits ...

We understand that dog is supposed to man's best friend, but we couldn't possibly imagine dropping nearly 20 grand on a bionic leg for one of our beloved pups. Don't get us wrong, we love our canine companions, but we could buy a pretty nice car or dig ourselves out of credit card debt with that kinda cash. We assume that Reg Walker has money to spare since he spent £10,000 (a little more ...

Wired had you covered if you were wondering how to become a Batman-esque superhero with a belt full of fancy gadgets. But what if you wanted to take on a more fanciful and imposing set of powers like those of the sleek metal-suited Iron Man? Well, Berkeley Bionics has started taking orders for prototypes of their Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) exoskeletons. Berkeley Bionics has spent the ...

You may not be aware, but prosthetics aren't just for humans anymore. Oh no, now medical artisans spend quality time designing and fitting wild creatures with replacement parts after tragic accidents. Braces to help dogs walk are nothing new, but some adventurous body part sculptors are taking on more demanding project like a new beak for a bald eagle and a tail for a dolphin. One DIY'er even ...

Unfortunately, there's a shocking number of Iraqi war veterans returning home every day as amputees, due to shrapnel from improvised explosive devices and other battlefront dangers. Those veterans are becoming a tragic statistic, but they're also driving advances in prosthetic technology. Covered briefly by Engadget last summer, latest innovation is a new prosthetic hand from a company called ...

Retinitis pigmentosa is a debilitating genetic condition indicating severe retina deterioration. Those affected by it with suffer from reduced vision or, in many cases, total blindness. There is no known cure, so a diagnosis (often made during childhood) usually means inevitable loss of vision years or even decades later. That may be changing, though, with a prototype eye implant that may provide ...

The scientists at Duke University must be stopped! Researchers have created an unholy alliance, bringing together the two biggest threats to human dominance of the planet Earth (outside ourselves) -- monkeys and robots. The researchers' motivations are innocent, however. The scientists put electrodes in the brains of two rhesus monkeys then stuck them on a tread mill. Wait -- this gets better. ...

The 'Six MillionDollar Man' may be ready sooner than you think. U.S. Scientists are conducting research that may one day lead to the creation of a bionic eye. This optical prosthetic could one day restore vision to those who suffer from glaucoma and other vision-inhibiting diseases. After training monkeys to look at points of light, researchers inserted ultra-thin ...