Bionic prosthesis: device, installation, principle of operation. Bionic limb prostheses

When a person loses a limb, his most important dream is to feel his hand or leg again. And not just to feel, but to perform by the limb all the movements available before the injury or illness: take a cup, lace up the shoes, go with support on both legs. Return the lost opportunities allows a bionic prosthesis, or a complex device that captures nerve impulses.

How did "smart" prostheses appear?

The prototype of "living" prostheses was invented and described by science fiction writers. In their works, mechanical assistants, working better than living organs, came to replace lost hands, feet, eyes, and hearts lost in battles. The most famous example - the Terminator of Cameron, who took from a man only appearance.

Few people know that the prototype of modern prosthesis dates back to the 19th century, when a metal ball was inserted into the wooden leg to make the lower part movable. But in the 20th century these primitive devices replaced the bionic prosthesis created at the junction of several sciences: medicine, engineering, bionics and electronics.

Scientists of different countries dispute the priority in this matter, but the facts are that the first acting bony prosthesis was presented at the orthopedic exhibition in the German city of Leipzig in 2010. In the few years that have passed since this event, a large number of prosthetic hands, hands, feet, feet and even dog's paws have been developed in the world.

What is bionics?

This is a whole science that studies the living nature and the possibility of transferring the principles of the work of living beings into industrial analogues. Engineers peek at ideas from nature and embody them in their devices and structures. In this sense, bionic prostheses are just a drop in the ocean. So, known to all Velcro fasteners just copy the way of movement of seeds thistle. Suckers are borrowed from leeches. When constructing submarines, they took for a model of a earthworm - all "compartments" are autonomous. The incredibly hardy metallic openwork of the Ostankino and Eiffel towers is a multiply-magnified copy of a man's tubular bone. The interlacing of metal, which everyone admires so much, is a copy of the structure of bone tissue combining strength and flexibility.

Even a multi-storey house in which such different families live simultaneously is written off from bee honeycombs. The idea of life of different people in "cells" under one roof with common communications copies the way of life of a bee family.

Bionic incarnations are in many subjects surrounding us: automobile tires, aircraft, surveillance cameras, watercraft and the most common articulated joints.

How does the simplest bionic prosthesis work?

After an injury or during a disease, the limb is amputated. The remaining stump consists of a variety of tissues: skin, muscles, bones, vessels and nerves. The surgeon during surgery removes the remaining motor nerve to the remaining major muscle. After the wound is healed, the nerve can transmit a motor signal. This signal is perceived by a sensor mounted on the prosthesis. In the process of perception of the nerve impulse, a complex computer program participates.

Therefore, the bionic prosthesis can perform only those actions that are prescribed in this program: take a spoon, fork or ball, press a key and the like. In comparison with the lack of a limb, the possibility of even a limited number of movements is a huge progress. However, even the best and perfect bionic prostheses can not yet perform all those small and precise movements to which a living limb is capable.

How is the nerve impulse from the brain to the prosthesis?

To understand how bionic prostheses work, you need to remember the normal physiology of a person.

The movements that we make many times during the day are called automatic movements. Raising, going to the toilet, washing, brushing teeth, dressing - all this does not cause us any thoughts. The body does all that is necessary, as it were, by itself. But in fact the beginning of any movement is a thought. That is, at the beginning we think: you need to brush your teeth, weld coffee, get dressed. The brain sends signals to those muscles that are involved in this movement. The muscle can contract or relax only at the signal of the brain. But the process passes so quickly and smoothly that we do not have time to realize what is happening. In the case of a prosthesis, it is more and more difficult: first, the motion signal is read by the electrode located next to the nerve removed to the muscle, and then sent to the processor inside the prosthesis. This process is also quite fast, but the speed of the action is still inferior to a living limb.

Artificial human "spare parts"

Since the first bionic prosthesis was introduced, science has gone far ahead. If the first models were cumbersome, required switches and could perform only the simplest movements, then modern patterns are difficult to call prostheses. These are elegant engineering products, as if descended from the screen of futuristic films.

The prosthesis is absolutely similar to a healthy arm, they can write, keep cutlery, a car steering wheel or a chicken egg. For perfection of movements sometimes use own fabrics of the person from other sites of a body - from legs or foots, for example.

Ideas from the future

Engineers and scientists in their fantasies are irresistible. So, scientists even could "get around" the damaged retina of the eye, broadcasting the image of the surrounding straight to the optic nerve. A person blinded by trauma, with the preservation of the optic nerve, can count on seeing native faces again or a beautiful dawn.

There are already devices that improve brain function. So, with a trembling paralysis or Parkinson's disease, you can cope with the implanted electrode.

People who become immobile due to paralysis are implanted electrodes directly into the brain so that they can control artificial arms and legs. For a person completely dependent on others, the possibility of self-service is an unspeakable joy.

The issue of implants under the skin of chips, capable of replacing keys, a bank card and an identity card at the same time is discussed.

And what about us?

The most famous enterprise that produces bionic prostheses in Russia is the Moscow Prosthetic and Rehabilitation Center. Here, prostheses are assembled from modules, products from Germany, Iceland and Russia are used.

Prosthesis of each person has individual characteristics. This is the level of amputation, and weight, and height, and occupation, the characteristics of gait and small movements, age. Many self-learning modules are used. Not only the person adapts to the prosthesis, but also the prosthesis to the person. The self-learning module, equipped with built-in artificial intelligence, remembers the gait and route characteristics. The module "learns" not only the width of the step and the load on the limb, but also remembers the number and height of the steps, potholes and pits on the way. Modules copy the actions of the brain preparing a step or other movement.

How much does a "live" prosthesis cost?

The cost of bionic prosthetics is still high and can reach millions of rubles in difficult cases. However, a return to a full life is difficult to assess in terms of material terms. In fact, the installation of bionic prostheses is the only opportunity for a disabled person to return to normal life: to build and implement plans, to support the family, to seek career heights.

The most important thing is to return to the community of healthy, self-reliant people. People with "living" prostheses continue to lead a habitual way of life, dance and even receive sports awards. That is, the prosthesis becomes a part of a person so much that it is difficult to distinguish the actions of living muscles from their bionic analogues.

Prosthetics: stages of development

In comparison with the usual bionic prosthesis brush - a real breakthrough. More recently, a person who lost a brush could count only on two possibilities: a skin flap was formed between the elbow and the radius to allow the person to grab large objects, or a hook was attached to the cult. Both were uncomfortable and a little aesthetic. Today, even the formation of a stump for a future prosthesis begins in the operating room. From the first days of the postoperative period, the prosthetist works with the victim, helping to choose the best combination of details. The cult is formed and trained, and the parts of the future prosthesis are maximally adapted to the remaining possibilities. The skin comes in contact with a gentle silicone cuff with built-in chips. There is no loss from modern prostheses. The program for each product is developed individually, depending on what a person does. The task is the maximum restoration of the function.

Help for the disabled

A person who has lost limb, without fail passes medical and social expertise. Simultaneously with the establishment of a disability group, a social rehabilitation program is being developed for everyone. Rehabilitation involves the use, first of all, of technical means that facilitate the return of a person to work. All bionic limbs are included in the mandatory list of such technical means. The person has a choice: in the framework of the rehabilitation program, get the finished product or purchase it yourself with subsequent receipt of monetary compensation. The amount of compensation is calculated at the average cost of similar prosthetic products.

What are the developers working on?

Modern bionic prostheses of the hands perfectly perform delicate movements, but the person does not receive from them those sensations to which he is accustomed. So, a prosthesis can stroke a person's hair, but one can not feel the warmth of the scalp and the softness of the hair. Now scientists are eliminating this shortcoming. Specialists have already learned how to fuse bones with titanium, and connect the sensors of movements and feelings directly to the living nerve. Thus, the bionic hand completely replaces the living one, and the person receives tactile sensations that have been deprived of for many years. The direct connection of nerves and muscles with the technical adaptation greatly increases the speed of movement, bringing it closer to the natural one.

What parts does the bionic leg consist of?

The modern bionic leg prosthesis includes several obligatory elements, such as:

• Silicone cuff with built-in sensors;
• Support - titanium rod, shaped like a shin;
• A hinged module with a microdriver and a processor;
• An artificial intelligence unit that processes all incoming signals.

The latest models of prostheses from leading German companies have a special coating, very similar to the skin. Synthetic leather has a dual purpose: it protects the parts of the denture from moisture and performs a cosmetic function. The prosthesis with a covering can not be removed, take a shower and walk on puddles.

A little imagination

Today, several people live on the same planet as us, having 2 or even 3 bionic prostheses at the same time. Invented synthetic leather, changing the rigidity. Invented exoskeletons, helping to walk paralyzed people. Developed products, driven by the power of thought. Experiments are carried out on nerve growth in microchannels. Theoretically, the day is not far off when it will be possible to grow a nerve of the required length. Scientists are trying to erase the line between living nature and a technical device. The number of movements made by bionic prostheses is constantly increasing, and their complexity also increases.

All this gives great hope that a person will become stronger than a disease.

Prosthetics of the limbs become a routine procedure, returning a person to the usual course. Perhaps, the day will come when any part of the human body can be replaced by an artificial one. At least, I really want to believe in it.