Bionics

The world is edging closer to fully functional prosthetic limbs, with the success of the bionic Mia Hand. This futuristic piece of biotech connects to the nervous and skeletal systems to offer 80% of normal, daily use to someone who has lost a hand.

From MRIs to x-rays and sonograms, the medical community has a lot of ways to see beneath our skin. Now, researchers have created a robotic finger that may offer another way to analyze our human form – by poking and prodding it.

Look how far we've come in the last 35 years, and imagine where we'll be in 2056. What will the Olympic Games look like in an age of genetic editing, advanced bionics, augmented reality, advanced medicine, neural links and artificial intelligence?

Although there have already been birds that received strap-on artificial legs, scientists are now reporting the first successful integration of a prosthetic foot directly into a stork's residual leg bone. They're describing the animal as the world's first "bionic bird."

Scientists at Linköping University have developed an artificial muscle that runs off of glucose and oxygen like its organic counterpart. Made of a special polymer, the new plastic muscles open the promise of implantable artificial muscles that can be powered by like living organs.

Have you ever wondered why there aren't more drones out there with bionic hands? Us neither, but here we are, looking at the "Drone for Handy" by Youbionics, which places a pair of fully operational bionic hands in the air, ready to grab at things the might need grabbing.

​When he was an assistant professor at Princeton University, Michael McAlpine led the development of a 3D-printed bionic ear. Now an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, he has gone on to 3D-print a rudimentary bionic eye.

Youbionic started taking pre-orders for its 3D-printed robotic hand early last year. The company recently launched a new version, but hasn't stopped there. Looking to a near future where robotic enhancements make for improved humans, a two-handed prosthetic has been developed and gone up for sale.​

McLaren Applied Technologies was recently given the task of creating a new type of body armor to protect an unnamed billionaire from damaging their fragile ribcage following surgery. The result is the Invincible Shield.

What do you do if you're a Japanese car maker facing an aging population that needs more help getting back on their feet than behind the wheel? If you're Toyota, you turn this problem into an opportunity and develop a robotic system to help them regain the use of their legs.

​The strength of spinach isn't only in its nutrients, but also in its ability to be hacked to function as a sensor able to detect things like explosives, according to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

When we first reported on the robotic hand made by Youbionic back in 2014, we indicated that the device was only a prototype and that the makers were looking for funding to bring it to market. Well, apparently they've gotten the funding, because Youbionic is now taking pre-orders for the device.