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Category: cyborgs

A flexible lens controlled by light-activated artificial muscles promises to let soft machines see

Inspired by the human eye, our biomedical engineering lab at Georgia Tech has designed an adaptive lens made of soft, light-responsive, tissuelike materials. Our study is published in the journal Science Robotics.

Adjustable camera systems usually require a set of bulky, moving, solid lenses and a pupil in front of a camera chip to adjust focus and intensity. In contrast, human eyes perform these same functions using soft, flexible tissues in a highly compact form.

Our lens, called the photo-responsive hydrogel soft lens, or PHySL, replaces rigid components with soft polymers acting as artificial muscles. The polymers are composed of a hydrogel —a water-based polymer material. This hydrogel muscle changes the shape of a soft lens to alter the lens’s focal length, a mechanism analogous to the ciliary muscles in the human eye.

Revolutionary Prosthetic Eye Chip Restores Sight in Medical First

A tiny chip implanted into the eyes of people suffering vision loss from irreversible age-related macular degeneration has restored central sight in a dazzling first.

It’s called the PRIMA system, tested across 17 European hospitals, and it restored central vision in 26 of 32 patients who used it for 12 months – many of whom could even read again. The result, developed by a large international team of doctors and scientists over many years, represents a massive breakthrough in treatments for vision loss.

“It’s the first time that any attempt at vision restoration has achieved such results in a large number of patients,” says ophthamologist José-Alain Sahel of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, co-senior author on a paper describing the results.

Artificial muscle can switch from soft to rigid to support 4,000 times its own weight

A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a new type of artificial muscle that can seamlessly transition from soft and flexible to rigid and strong—much like rubber transforming into steel. When contracting, this innovative muscle can lift many times its own weight, delivering energy output far surpassing that of human muscles.

Led by Professor Hoon Eui Jeong in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UNIST, the research team has successfully created a soft artificial muscle capable of dynamically adjusting its stiffness.

The study is published online in Advanced Functional Materials.

Cyborgs: We examine the concepts of cyborgs, clarify what they are and how they differ from bionics, androids, and similar concepts

We also discuss some of the lesser known options for augmentation and explore the notion of man-machine integration.

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Cover Art by Jakub Grygier: https://www.artstation.com/artist/jak… by: Dexter Britain “Seeing the Future” Lombus “Hydrogen Sonata” Sergey Cheremisinov “Labyrinth” Kai Engel “Endless Story about Sun and Moon” Frank Dorittke “Morninglight” Koalips “Kvazar” Kevin MacLeod “Spacial Winds” Lombus “Amino” Brandow Liew “Into the Storm”

Music by:
Dexter Britain.
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A mobile robot scientist capable of carrying out experiments by itself

We live in a time when robots can clean our homes, drive our vehicles, deactivate bombs, offer prosthetic limbs, help healthcare workers, read the news, entertain, teach, and many more. And now, there is a robot scientist that can work on behalf of humans 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have built an intelligent “robot scientist” capable of moving around a laboratory and carrying out scientific experiments by itself. The first of its kind machine with humanoid dimensions are designed to work in a standard laboratory, using instruments much as a human researcher does. It can also make its own decisions about which chemistry experiments to perform next.

The robot scientist is 1.75-meter tall, weighs around 400 kg, and can roam around the laboratory, performing a wide range of different tasks. Unlike a human being, the robot has infinite patience, can think in 10 dimensions, and works for 21.5 hours each day, pausing only to recharge its battery for two hours. This will allow scientists to automate time-consuming and tedious research they wouldn’t otherwise tackle.

New aortic repair device improves patient survival and recovery

King George, Albert Einstein, John Ritter, Richard Holbrooke, George C Scott, Lucille Ball, Betty Garrett, Walter Huston, Humphrey Lyttleton, Marilyn Chambers, and Michael Rennie all died from the same thing, Aortic dissection however the FDA recently approved AMDS Hybrid Prosthesis is helping change that by greatly inproving survival and recovery rates. UI Health Care is the first in Iowa to implant a patient with the recently approved AMDS Hybrid Prosthesis.

Patients who experience a specific type of aortic tear now have a new treatment option available at UI Health Care. The AMDS Hybrid Prosthesis, the world’s first aortic arch remodeling device, was recently approved for DeBakey Type 1 aortic dissection patients.

DeBakey Type 1 aortic dissection is a tear in the inner layer of the wall of the aorta—the main artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. An aortic dissection causes blood to flow between the wall layers, which slows or stops normal blood flow and can lead to a complete rupture of the aorta. The condition is emergent, life-threatening, and requires immediate surgical repair.

The current treatment option involves removing a portion of the damaged aorta and grafting a synthetic tube in its place. These procedures are successful but often fail to treat the remainder of the diseased aorta, which can result in complications and the need for additional procedures in the future.

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