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Category: cyborgs – Page 24

Circa 2020

Imagine a dressing that releases antibiotics on demand and absorbs excessive wound exudate at the same time. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology hope to achieve just that, by developing a smart coating that actively releases and absorbs multiple fluids, triggered by a radio signal. This material is not only beneficial for the health care industry, it is also very promising in the field of robotics or even virtual reality.

TU/e-researcher Danqing Liu, from the Institute of Complex Molecular Systems and the lead author of this paper, and her PhD student Yuanyuan Zhan are inspired by the skins of living creatures. Human skin secretes oil to defend against bacteria and sweats to regulate the body temperature. A fish secretes mucus from its skin to reduce friction from the water to swim faster. Liu now presents an artificial skin: a smart surface that can actively and repeatedly release and reabsorb substances under environmental stimuli, in this case radio waves. And that is special, as in the field of smart materials, most approaches are limited to passive release.

The potential applications are numerous. Dressings using this type of material could regulate drug delivery, to administer a drug on demand over a longer time and then ‘re-load’ with a different drug. Robots could use the layer of skin to ‘sweat’ for cooling themselves, which reduces the need for heavy ventilators inside their bodies. Machines could release lubricant to mechanical parts when needed. Or advanced controllers for virtual reality gaming could be made, that get wet or dry to enhance the human perception.

The basis of the material, the coating, is made of liquid-crystal molecules, well-known from LCD screens. These molecules have so-called responsive properties. Liu: “You could imagine this as a communication material. It communicates with its environment and reacts to stimuli.” With her team at the department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry she discovered that the liquid-crystal molecules react to radio waves. When the waves are turned on, the molecules twist to orient with the waves’ direction of travel.

Continue reading “Artificial skin heals wounds and makes robots sweat” | >

In situ bioprinting, which involves 3D printing biocompatible structures and tissues directly within the body, has seen steady progress over the past few years. In a recent study, a team of researchers developed a handheld bioprinter that addresses key limitations of previous designs, i.e., the ability to print multiple materials and control the physicochemical properties of printed tissues. This device will pave the way for a wide variety of applications in regenerative medicine, drug development and testing, and custom orthotics and prosthetics.

The emergence of has resulted in substantial improvements in the lives of patients worldwide through the replacement, repair, or regeneration of damaged tissues and organs. It is a promising solution to challenges such as the lack of organ donors or transplantation-associated risks. One of the major advancements in regenerative medicine is on-site (or “in situ”) bioprinting, an extension of 3D , which is used to directly synthesize tissues and organs within the human body. It shows great potential in facilitating the repair and regeneration of defective tissues and organs.

Although significant progress has been made in this field, currently used in situ bioprinting technologies are not devoid of limitations. For instance, certain devices are only compatible with specific types of bioink, while others can only create small patches of tissue at a time. Moreover, their designs are usually complex, making them unaffordable and restricting their applications.

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In my new Newsweek Op-Ed, I tackle a primary issue many people have with trying to stop aging and death via science. Hopefully this philosophical argument will allow more resources & support into the life extension field:

Philosophers often say if humans didn’t die, we’d be bored out of our minds. This idea, called temporal scarcity, argues the finitude of death is what makes life worth living. Transhumanists, whose most urgent goal is to use science to overcome biological death, emphatically disagree.

For decades, the question of temporal scarcity has been debated and analyzed in essays and books. But an original idea transhumanists are putting forth is reinvigorating the debate. It doesn’t discount temporal scarcity in biological humans; it discounts it in what humans will likely become in the future—cyborgs and digitized consciousnesses.

The traditional temporal scarcity argument against immortality imagines the human being remaining biologically the same as it has for tens of thousands of years. Yet the human race is already augmenting the human body with radical technology. Globally, over 200,000 people already have brain implants, and Silicon Valley companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink are working on trying to get millions of us to become cyborgs.

A growing number of experts even believe by the end of the century, humans will likely have the ability to upload the brain and its consciousness into a computer. In the process, digitized people will overcome biological death and engage in far more complex ways of being, including grand new designs of consciousness and selfhood.

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Researchers at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague have made progress in the field of assistive technology with the development of a novel auditory human–machine interface using black phosphorus–based tactile sensors. Research led by Prof. Martin Pumera and Dr. Jan Vyskočil has the potential to revolutionize communication for visually or speech-disabled individuals by providing an intuitive and efficient means of conveying information.

Assistive technology that utilizes has traditionally been employed by individuals with or speech and language difficulties. In this study, the focus was on creating an auditory that utilizes audio as a platform for communication between disabled users and society. The researchers developed a piezoresistive tactile sensor using a composite of black phosphorus and polyaniline (BP@PANI) through a simple chemical oxidative polymerization process on cotton fabric.

The unique structure and superior electrical properties of black phosphorus, combined with the large surface area of the fabric, enabled the BP@PANI-based tactile sensor to exhibit exceptional sensitivity, low-pressure sensitivity, reasonable response time, and excellent cycle stability. To demonstrate the real-world application, a was created, incorporating six BP@PANI corresponding to braille characters. This device can convert pressed text into audio, aiding visually or speech-disabled individuals in reading and typing. It offers a promising solution for improving communication and accessibility for this demographic.

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The limited ability of microrobots to assist drugs in entering cells hinders their therapeutic efficacy. To address this, a research team, reporting in Cyborg and Bionic Systems, has introduced the cancer-targeting molecule folic acid (FA) to microrobots to promote drug uptake by cancer cells via receptor-ligand-mediated endocytosis. This results in a drug delivery system that can locate lesion areas with magnetic fields and deliver loaded drugs into the cytoplasm through endocytosis.

Untethered microrobots have shown remarkable achievements in various fields such as minimally invasive surgery, , environmental remediation, and tissue engineering. Magnetic field actuation is a widely used method due to its good biosafety, deeper tissue penetration, and high temporal and spatial control.

However, practical problems arise when microrobots delivering drugs may only be able to deliver the drugs to the area around the cells but cannot assist the drugs to enter the cells. This limitation could potentially reduce the effectiveness of the treatment since the drugs may not reach the intended targets within the cells.

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Worth a listen to understand the current reality and the future potential:

Go to https://ground.news/sabine to stay fully informed on breaking news, compare coverage and avoid media bias. Subscribe using my link to get 30% off the Vantage plan for unlimited access.

Technological enhancements and implants are becoming more popular amongst a group of transhumanists who call themselves “grinders”. Are we coming closer to an age of cyborgs? Is genetic screening and editing ethical? Has biohacking lost all meaning? What are nootropics? That’s what we’ll talk about today.

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The four examples from the introduction are here:

Continue reading “Should we take evolution into our own hands and become transhuman?” | >

A new device can recreate the refractive errors of a myopic eye—one that displays nearsightedness—allowing scientists to test lenses designed to slow down the progression of the condition.

A team of researchers including Augusto Arias-Gallego at the University of Tübingen, Germany, has developed a device for mimicking the refractive errors of a nearsighted eye [1]. The team demonstrates the ability of this “artificial eye” to characterize the real-world performance of eyeglasses designed to slow the worsening of the condition in children. The team hopes that the insight gained with their system will aid in the development of more effective iterations of a potentially sight-saving technology. “By characterizing the prototype lenses in the lab, we can easily check if the designs are good candidates to slow myopia progression,” Arias-Gallego says. “That could help millions of children.”

Poor eyesight is on the rise. Today, one third of the world’s population suffers from some form of visual impairment, up from one fifth a decade ago. By 2050, estimates indicate that the fraction will increase to over one in two. The most common vision condition is nearsightedness, also known as myopia, which leads moderate sufferers unable to resolve objects more than a few feet away. When left untreated myopia can develop into sight-threatening conditions such as retinal detachment.

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In two new studies, North Carolina State University researchers have designed and tested a series of textile fibers that can change shape and generate force like a muscle. In the first study, published in Actuators, the researchers focused on the materials’ influence on artificial muscles’ strength and contraction length. The findings could help researchers tailor the fibers for different applications.

In the second, proof-of-concept study published in Biomimetics, the researchers tested their fibers as scaffolds for . Their findings suggest the fibers—known as “fiber robots”—could potentially be used to develop 3D models of living, moving systems in the human body.

“We found that our fiber robot is a very suitable scaffold for the cells, and we can alter the frequency and contraction ratio to create a more suitable environment for cells,” said Muh Amdadul Hoque, graduate student in textile engineering, chemistry and science at NC State. “These were proof-of concept studies; ultimately, our goal is to see if we can study these fibers as a scaffold for stem cells, or use them to develop artificial organs in future studies.”

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