Matthew is the first Briton to own such a prosthesis, worth 40 thousand pounds, and until recently only a madman could say that he would be able to ride a bike freely like all ordinary people. However, the modern, motorized prosthesis not only gave him cycling. Matthew can now ski, walk backwards, and climb and descend stairs with ease - a luxury not available to conventional leg prosthetics.
Matthew is still getting used to Genium's unusual mechanism. Last week, during the presentation of the miracle prosthesis, viewers could see his uncertainty as he barely held on without falling. But already now he flawlessly overcomes the flights of stairs to shake hands with the journalist who came to interview him.
A little later, he and a reporter go to a private club in his Bentley. Matthew is driving. When he gets into the car, he rolls up the leg and reveals the smooth surface of the prosthesis. As a fan of Terminator movies, the journalist finds it all rather strange and very familiar.
- With my last prosthesis, I could hardly climb the stairs, says Matthew, I lifted my right good leg first, and then I dragged the prosthesis. It was very awkward. And this weekend I rode a bike. True, I had to fix the prosthesis on the pedal, as there was a fear that it would come off. I still don't feel completely safe with it, I fell into the grass a couple of times, but I know that I will gradually get used to it and master it to the maximum. With him, I already feel almost the same sensations that I had with my old leg.
After his accident, Matthew spent six months recovering at the Cambridge clinic, and after returning home to his parents, he fell into depression.
-I could not even leave my room, as the threshold was too high. Couldn't even bring myself a glass of water.
However, this did not stop him from starting a private business, investing in a private property firm 2 million insurance payments from an accident. Gradually Matthew got used to new and new dentures, but he continued to fall on them at least 3-4 times a week. He was terrified of curbs and uneven surfaces.
The new Genium prosthesis responds to the user's movements and adjusts to their gait, so that movements with it seem almost natural. Most prostheses use a swivel joint for the knee area, but here the prosthesis is completely made of carbon fiber, aluminum alloys and titanium and has a microprocessor and four sensors hidden in the kneecap.
“Sensors send information to the processor about body movement, weight distribution and angle of inclination,” says developer Ken Hirst. “This means that the limb can anticipate the next movement of the wearer and react to it. Similarly, if a person does not move, but stands in one position, then the sensors block and fix the pose.
But the biggest achievement of the new prosthesis, Ken Hirst, considers the ability to just walk down the street and not experience any pain from rubbing the prosthesis with the body stump, which is a constant problem with old prostheses.
The Genium prosthesis was announced as a breakthrough in prosthetics and soon 5 thousand Britons will be able to use them. People who have lost limbs due to diabetes, meningitis, or accidents will replace their old prostheses with new ones.
The term "bionic" to refer to humans was first applied in 1958 by Jack Steele, a retired US Air Force colonel who later worked in the medical field. The topic of human bionics became popular after the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man about an astronaut who was implanted with a bunch of implants that make him stronger, dexterous and resilient. However, now everything is going to the point that what was previously purely fantastic becomes our reality.
In addition to the Genium leg prosthesis, there is the i-LIMB bionic manual prosthesis in the world, which features a lightweight aluminum body and pulsing grip technology, which allows more precise finger movements.
I-limb pulse allows you to perform a huge number of tasks with your artificial hand, including tying laces or fastening a belt. Moreover, the prosthesis can be customized specifically for your body and type of activity - for this, special software has been developed, with which i-limb pulse is connected via bluetooth.
Last year, 13-year-old American boy Patrick Kane became the youngest owner of a bionic prosthesis. Contrary to the prediction of skeptics, the adaptation went with a bang
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The doubts of the developers of the prosthesis were more than justified. The fact is that Patrick lost his left arm at the age of 9 months, falling ill with meningitis, which later caused sepsis - blood poisoning. The boy survived, but as a result, doctors had to amputate his right leg and left arm.
All this meant that Patrick would not be able to create the correct commands for the preserved nerves, because at a conscious age he could no longer control his hand! However, the young man mastered the prosthesis faster than all the previous patients, and he even refused a special artificial covering, imitating a human hand, so that his hand was like "Arnie's." Today he is already so accustomed to the bi-hand that he can no longer imagine life without it.
A similar prosthesis was installed in April 2011 for 5-year-old Tilly Loki.
The girl is able to control every finger of her new $ 39,000 hand. Hand control in a bionic prosthesis is performed using special sensors that record electrical signals from the remaining shoulder muscles.
The bionic hand allows much better control over the clenching of the hand, which allowed the child to learn to write and draw: “It's so good that I can clench my fingers … Now it's easier for me to draw,” Tilly shares her joy.
The girl's mother, Sarah: "Now she can grab a brush without the help of a special sponge, and it is much easier for her to hold a pencil in her hands."
Tilly's arms were amputated in 2007 due to blood poisoning from meningitis. The doctors then told Sarah and her husband Adam that Tilly most likely would not survive. Fortunately, things turned out differently.
Now the girl is bravely overcoming all difficulties. Tilly has a prosthetic left arm. The prosthesis was specially made for her by the British company Touch Bionics, and needs to be replaced every year.
However, one of the most important achievements of bionic prosthetics is most likely the Argus II prosthesis, also known as the Bionic Eye.
In 2007, such a prosthesis was installed in 75-year-old Ron White, who lost his sight in 1979 due to natural degenerative changes. Ron was one of the first people to receive such a device, worth £ 66,000. During the 4-hour operation, 60 tiny electrodes and a microchip were implanted into the man's eye. The prosthesis works through the detection of light, then the pulses through the thinnest electrodes are fed to the artificial retina.
The picture Ron gets is still not detailed enough to make him give up the guide dog. But he can already independently sort, for example, laundry for washing by color.
Trials show more successful results in younger patients. Children can see and distinguish between letters and numbers.
Science does not stand still, and now a new challenge for inventors is to create a bioprosthesis that would respond to signals from the brain of disabled people. This is for those patients who are completely paralyzed and unable to move.
“We’ve almost done it,” says Kevin Warwick, professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading. “In 2009, we were successfully tested in Japan when scientists made a wheelchair move under the influence of signals from the brain.
Scientists are also working to create artificial viscera, pancreas, heart, and bionic kidneys. An invention called Novalung, a lung replacement, is now in clinical trials.
So is it just a matter of time before almost completely bionic humans?
- Yes, - Professor Warwick agrees, - but most likely it will be a mixture of living biological organs grown artificially in laboratories and electronic mechanisms.
Dr. Pete Moore, author of the book Enhancing Me on the possibilities of improving the human body, says that scientists are still far from creating bionic people.
-Look at Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic double-limb champion. He can be phenomenally fast. But at the end of the race, he throws off his prostheses, since they are not suitable for ordinary life and do not provide all the freedom of movement in everyday life. After all, a person wants to run and climb rocks and swim and walk.