Will The Future Generation Become Like Cyborgs With Advanced Bionics?

Bionics is a term that we now hear often. So what is Bionics? Bionics or biologically inspired engineering is the application or rather replication of biological methods and systems that are found in nature. It is in other word the science of constructing artificial systems that have some or more of the characteristics of living system. Bionics however, is not a specialized science but it is more of an interscience discipline and one can compare it with cybernetics. While cybernetics seeks the explanation of living being's behavior bionics works using models of living systems in order to find new ideas and create useful artificial machines and systems.

In medical terms, bionics means the replacement of enhancement of human body parts or organs by mechanical versions that almost replicate the workings of a normal limb or organ. There is a big difference between a prostheses and a bionic implant because unlike a prosthetic which is unable to mimic the original bodily function the bionic limb does it very closely or at times even surpassing it.
Today bionics helps us create artificial limbs that are used to replace a missing body part due to any unforeseen reason like accidents, disease or birth defects. Artificial limbs have been in use since 600 BC. We have seen wooden legs, metal arms, and hooks for hands which were the primitive methods of creating artificial limbs to aid the person with some movement. However, these were difficult to use, often uncomfortable and had poor functionality added with the fact that they were also cosmetically unattractive.
Today with the help of bionics researchers have been able to develop not just lighter, smaller and better controlled prosthetics but these are also more lifelike, aesthetically made and also affordable. The new generation of prosthetic limbs with their union with bionics is a combination of diverse field like electronics, biotechnology, and hydraulics, along with computing, medicine, nanotechnology and prosthetics. This interdisciplinary science is actually known as biomechatronics. This melting pot of different disciplines, works together to integrate mechanical elements and devices with biological characteristics and organisms such as the human muscles, bones and the nervous system.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA is offering U.S. War Veterans who have lost their limbs with a form of sophisticated bionic arm known as "Luke "arm. As a follow up to that DARPA is working on an arm that will be controlled by implanting a small chip in the brain. Looks like it won't be long when people will willingly give up a non functioning natural body part for an advanced bionic one. Looks like the sci-fi movies are becoming reality after all.

By: Madhuchanda Saxena
Content: https://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/building-my-dream-bionic-body/