- 1 day ago
Explores past, present, and future technologies that restore or augment human capabilities using advanced robotics, neural interfaces, and biomechanical engineering.....
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:11Human beings have long been intrigued by the mysteries of our origins and the mechanics of
00:18our minds and bodies. As we continue to tease apart our biological makeup, we hope to achieve
00:26our ultimate potential. Scientists are uncovering the secrets of staying healthy, performing optimally
00:35and living longer. In the past few decades, our progress towards these goals has been breathtaking.
00:45What have we discovered about getting smarter, beating disease and our bionic future? This is
00:54our extraordinary journey, our search for superhuman. Over the last 40 years, scientists have been on a
01:04journey to augment the human body. I always had this fascination about making part human,
01:11part machine. Pioneers are restoring hearing, sight and mobility. It's an amazing thing to
01:19watch a bloke with no legs run to 400 metres in 46 seconds. They're finding ways to build new organs
01:26from scratch. The ability to create those whole organs eventually will have a tremendous impact.
01:33Could merging man with machine lead to a new class of superhuman? Once you can get inside the brain,
01:40you can interact with it in a way that we wouldn't have previously imagined. Tonight,
01:44we explore the incredible world of bionic people. In 1985, Peter Searle became the youngest deaf person
02:04to receive a revolutionary new technology, a cochlear implant. It was the first successful electronic
02:12interface between the world and human consciousness, allowing the profoundly deaf to hear sound.
02:20We can't end deafness, but hopefully by the year 2000, we can so help them communicate that they can
02:30operate as a near normal hearing person. Its inventor, Australian Graham Clark, had faced years of derision for
02:39even entertaining the idea of developing a bionic ear. There was a lot of resistance to it. I mean,
02:48the idea of putting in electronics into somebody's body and stimulating the nerves was really quite
02:54outlandish at the start. A lot of people were very sceptical about how that would work.
02:59I was severely criticised for actually making it possible for deaf people to hear. That was really
03:07quite a surprise to me. But Clark's incredible persistence paid off. And the device, which uses
03:14electrodes to directly stimulate auditory nerves in the brain, has since restored hearing in more than
03:20300,000 people. Even now children being implanted as soon as they're diagnosed as being deaf.
03:27So it's received an enormous amount of clinical verification that people are comfortable with the
03:33technology. They know that it works well. What will I say first? I'm going to school. I'm going to school.
03:42That's too easy for you. From the crude representations of sound produced by the first models,
03:50the fidelity of the bionic ear dramatically improved. To the point now that people with a cochlear implant
03:57can use mobile phones, they can go to concerts, which the scientists developing this at the outset
04:03had really never imagined would ever be possible. What the cochlear implant achieved for the deaf
04:09was remarkable. It also was an incredible gift to scientists in the field of bionics. It showed that
04:18with the right resources and perseverance, even the most complex parts of our anatomy could be synthesised to
04:25restore function. Graham Clark, who assembled in this very conservative university environment all those
04:33years ago, an integrated multidisciplinary team, and he made the bionic ear happen. That's such a great
04:39example that shows the way for how we have to make progress in this medical device area. I think it
04:46is a
04:47miracle. And we will always be grateful to Professor Clark. Thank you to all who shared my faith and my
04:58belief
04:59that speech understanding was possible when most scientists in the world said it was impossible.
05:12It wasn't only the creation of the bionic ear that was groundbreaking, but the way scientists collaborated
05:19to build it. Success relied on brilliant minds across material science, physics, mathematics, computer
05:27programming, biology and more. In the last few decades, these diverse fields of science have routinely joined forces.
05:35That's bringing us astonishingly close to an era where made to order body parts are as good as or exceed
05:43the real thing. And that's been a long time coming. Humans have been replacing body parts for a very long
05:55time.
05:57The earliest known prosthesis is from ancient Egypt, dating back to around 900 BC.
06:07The Cairo toe was exquisitely crafted in wood and leather.
06:14However, over the next 3,000 years, artificial digits and limbs didn't improve all that much.
06:2350 years ago, people used to carve wood to shape it at the stump end, and then the limb is
06:31inserted
06:32in it. And then that would be used as a pedestal to walk with. That still is the traditional way
06:39of doing it in the vast majority of the world.
06:44Prosthetics have always had two main goals. To return a degree of functionality to the user,
06:50to the user, while attracting as little attention as possible. But in the last few decades, advances
06:57in materials and engineering have transformed artificial limbs, to the point where they're starting to be
07:03considered an advantage. Since the 1980s, below the knee amputees kicked off their walking shoes and strapped on
07:14revolutionary new running blades. They'd been developed by American amputee Van Phillips, who was determined
07:22to build a prosthetic with maximum energy storage and spring.
07:26It's an amazing thing to watch a bloke with no legs run to 400 metres in 46 seconds.
07:33The point at which the 100 metre sprint in the Paralympics starts to be faster than the normal human,
07:39at that point, there's no point in calling it the Paralympics anymore. This is a Bionic Olympics,
07:44and it's going to be amazing. The secret was polymer reinforced with carbon fibre
07:49in a smart J-curve design. Stronger than steel, but able to store more kinetic energy
07:55than the spring in the human ankle joint. The International Association of Athletics Federations
08:02ruled blades to be an advantage in 2008. Blade runners were banned from competing with able-bodied
08:10athletes. However, the ruling was overturned the same year when further research demonstrated the
08:17springy blades couldn't beat the power of critical missing human tissue. Muscle. And that's something
08:24scientists have spent decades trying to imitate. As an engineer, when you look at muscle, you're really
08:34amazed at what it can do as an engineering motor, essentially. And what we have never been able
08:41to replicate is the power output of muscle and the efficiency of muscle. Pound for pound or gram for
08:49gram, muscle outperforms any other motor or engine that we've been able to make at a small size. So it
08:56really is a marvel. Since the 1950s, scientists have been trying to build artificial muscles from
09:04synthetic materials. Early versions were powered by bulky pumps and valves. Not that suitable for prosthetics.
09:14Material scientist Jeffrey Spinks took up the challenge in the mid-90s. He began searching for
09:21a material that could be used to create smaller artificial muscles for use in prosthetics, robots
09:27and even humans. His focus has been on electro materials. Electro materials are materials that
09:37potentially respond to some sort of electrical stimulus. The response can be many and varied. The one I'm
09:44particularly interested in is when we provide an electrical stimulus and we get a change in shape or volume.
09:50And that's the basis of what we call artificial muscles. So what we're looking for are large contractions,
09:57large forces and a fast response.
10:03Like many other scientists trying to develop artificial muscles,
10:08Jeff homed in on a breakthrough new material made entirely of carbon.
10:15What makes carbon so exciting at the moment is we've discovered nanostructured forms of carbon
10:22that have extraordinary properties. In 1991, a Japanese scientist discovered that sheets of carbon
10:30could form nanoscale tubes one billionth of a metre thick. These carbon nanotubes are lighter than a feather,
10:39stronger than steel, electrically conductive and can bend like rubber.
10:47They are an important example of a smart material. Carbon nanotubes show really interesting and useful
10:55properties, high conductivity, high strength and they also show a volume change and shape change when
11:02they're exposed to an electric field. As they studied the incredible properties of this expensive
11:09new material, Jeff's team realised they'd overlooked another much cheaper fibre that could serve their
11:15purpose better, fishing line.
11:21That was something that was a bit of a surprise. We were looking at the response of carbon nanotubes to
11:26an electrical stimulus and we discovered that they produced an unusual rotating type motion.
11:33As we studied that motion, we realised we could replicate that same process in really ordinary materials like polymer fibres.
11:42To build their new artificial muscles, they just needed fishing line, a hairdryer and an electric drill.
11:51By attaching the fishing line to the electric drill and the other end to a weight, the nylon begins to
11:57rotate
11:58the electric under tension, then twists over to form a coil. With a blast of heat, the shape is set.
12:06To make it function as an artificial muscle, it just needs a bit of tension and some more heat.
12:12The thicker the fibre, the more it can lift. A simple solution to a complex problem.
12:20And that means that the cost of those materials has gone right down, the availability has gone right
12:27up and the technology is really accessible to everybody. Through extreme twisting, the fishing
12:34line can create artificial muscles that contract by 49% and lift loads more than 100 times heavier
12:41than human muscle of the same length and weight. So the next step is to implement these technologies
12:49in prosthetics, as prosthetic hands, prosthetic arms and so on.
12:58Because the fishing line muscles are light, strong and small,
13:03they could help strip off the bulk from mobility suits like exoskeletons.
13:12We already have exoskeletons that can assist with upper limb and movement. But current technologies
13:19still use electric motors, which are bulky and heavy and not very user friendly. So what we're trying
13:26to do is produce streamlined, small volume, small mass materials that can replace the motors. So then we
13:34can have more comfortable exoskeletons that allow more natural movement. Eventually,
13:41Jeff hopes to use artificial muscles directly in humans.
13:46The ultimate aim is to produce an implantable artificial muscle that could be implanted into
13:53the body to rectify deficiencies due to muscle disease and other problems. That's quite a significant challenge.
14:08IMPLANTS HAVE BEEN USED IN THE BODY FOR DECADES, BUT GETTING THEM TO MIMIC LIVING TISSUE IS A HUGE CHALLENGE.
14:17ANY IMPLANT DESTINED FOR THE HUMAN BODY NEEDS TO BE BIOCOMPATIBLE AND HAVE FUNCTIONAL INTERACTION WITH
14:24OTHER TISSUS. BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST HALAS RIKWAT HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON THE CHALLENGE OF BUILDING AND
14:31INTEGRATING THE SECOND MOST COMMONLY TRANSPLANTED TISSUE IN THE HUMAN BODY, BONE.
14:39SO I WORK IN THE FIELD OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING IN GENERAL.
14:43AND WHAT WE'RE DOING IS TRYING TO DEVELOP SYNTHETIC MATERIALS THAT WE CAN BUILD IN THE LAB FOR USE IN
14:51HUMAN BODY.
14:55BONE GRAPHS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR MORE THAN 100 YEARS.
15:00THEY INVOLVE TAKING BONE FROM A HEALTHY REGION OF THE BODY OR DONOR AND FILLING THE GAP.
15:06BUT THIS IS ONLY SUITABLE FOR SMALLER DEFECTS.
15:09HARLE'S LAB HAS BEEN DEVELOPING A BONE SCAFFOLD FOR REGENERATING LARGE SECTIONS OF BONE,
15:15SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T CURRENTLY EXIST IN ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY.
15:19SO THE IDEA IS CAN WE DEVELOP SOMETHING THAT CAN BE BIOACTIVE,
15:24MEANING IT CAN ENCOURAGE THE SPECIFIC TISSUE THAT WE ARE INTERESTED IN BUILDING TO GROW AROUND THAT MATERIAL
15:31AND MAKE SURE THAT THIS MATERIAL SUSTAINS ITS MECHANICAL PROPERTIES.
15:36IN FACT, OUR SCELETAL TISSUE IS AN AMAZING TISSUE.
15:40IT'S AS LIGHT AS WOOD BUT AT THE SAME TIME VERY STRONG.
15:44AND TO BE ABLE TO REPLICATE THAT IN THE LAB OR BY HUMANS HAS BEEN A GREAT CHALLENGE AND IS
15:51A GREAT CHALLENGE TO THIS DAY.
15:53BUT THE CHALLENGES DON'T END THERE.
15:57TO ENCOURAGE GROWTH, BONE NEEDS TO BE PLACED UNDER A MECHANICAL LOAD,
16:02WHICH HAPPENS DURING WEIGHT BEARING, BUT IT ALSO NEEDS ACCESS TO NUTRIENTS AND MINERALS.
16:12SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE BONE, IT HAD ELEMENTS THAT ARE IMPORTANT, SUCH AS CALCIUM, STRONTIUM, ZINC,
16:20AND THEN WE DEVELOPED MATERIALS THAT CONTAIN ALL OF THESE ELEMENTS TOGETHER.
16:25IT WAS A PROCESS OVER EIGHT YEARS WHERE WE DEVELOPED MATERIALS WITH THE RIGHT ION CONCENTRATIONS,
16:32AND THEN WE LOOKED AT THE END MATERIAL AND WE GO, IT'S STILL NOT MECHANICALLY STRONG TO WHAT WE NEEDED
16:38IT TO BE.
16:40THE MATERIAL WAS ENGINEERED FOR IMPROVED STRENGTH BY THE ADDITION OF MICRON-SIZED ORGANITE CRYSTALS.
16:48WE INTRODUCE NANOCRYSTALS EMBEDDED INTO THE MATERIAL THAT WILL THEN GIVE US THE MATERIAL
16:54THAT HAS THE HIGH POROSITY AND INTERCONNECTIVITY LIKE SWISS CHEESE.
16:59AND THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE FLOW OF BLOOD, NUTRIENTS AND FLUIDS TO MAINTAIN THE HEALTHY
17:05NUTRIENT PART OF THE BONE, BUT ALSO MECHANICALLY STRONG.
17:11THE MATERIAL IS DESIGNED TO BE RESORBED INTO THE BODY AS NEW BONE GROWS AROUND IT.
17:17BUT WHAT'S REALLY REVOLUTIONARY ABOUT THE BONE SCAFFOLD IS THAT IT CAN BE 3D PRINTED.
17:23TO CREATE AN EXACT MATCH FOR THE PATIENT.
17:29THIS COULD BE PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR REPLACING LARGE DEFECTS
17:33CAUSED BY TRAUMA OR DISEASES LIKE BONE CANCER.
17:38SO THE IDEA WOULD BE WE MICRO-CT THAT DEFECT,
17:42THEN WE PUT THE MATHEMATICAL MODELS THAT'S REQUIRED TO GIVE US THE INFORMATION THAT WE NEED
17:50TO PRINT THAT MATERIAL TO FIT THE SIZE OF THE DEFECT.
17:55WITH PROMISING ANIMAL TRIALS, HALA HOPES TO HAVE THE BONE SCAFFOLD ON THE MARKET IN A FEW YEARS.
18:03WHAT I'M HOPING FOR, AND HOPEFULLY IN THE VERY, VERY NEAR FUTURE, THAT YOU DON'T EVEN NEED A TITANIUM
18:09METAL IMPLANT. YOU WILL JUST HAVE A WHOLE CERAMIC OFF THE HIP, A WHOLE CERAMIC OFF THE JOB,
18:16TO REPLACE THAT.
18:293D PRINTING WAS DEVELOPED IN THE 1980S FOR PRODUCING STRUCTURES IN RESIN.
18:35BUT IT'S NOW STARTING TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE.
18:41THIS MIGHT SEEM RADICAL, BUT, YOU KNOW, UNTIL 5, 10 YEARS AGO,
18:45IN A LABORATORY SITUATION, ALL BIOLOGY EXPERIMENTS WERE DONE IN TWO DIMENSIONS.
18:51I MEAN, IT'S CRAZY, YOU KNOW, THE WORLD'S NOT FLAT, RIGHT?
18:53AND BIOLOGY'S CERTAINLY NOT TWO-DIMENSIONAL.
18:57THE IDEA OF USING 3D PRINTERS TO CREATE COMPLEX HUMAN TISSUS SEEMS LIKE SCIENCE FICTION.
19:05BUT EARLY STEPS TOWARDS PRINTING INTERNAL ORGANS HAVE ALREADY BEEN TAKEN.
19:12OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A LIMITED SUPPLY OF ORGANS FOR TRANSPLANTATION,
19:17AND SO THE ABILITY TO CREATE THOSE WHOLE ORGANS EVENTUALLY WILL HAVE A TREMENDOUS IMPACT
19:21ON PEOPLE WAITING FOR THOSE ORGANS.
19:29THE FIRST ORGAN TRANSPLANT, A KIDNEY, HAPPENED IN 1954.
19:34BUT REJECTION OF TRANSPLANTED ORGANS WAS A MAJOR PROBLEM UNTIL IMMUNOSUPRESSANTS WERE DEVELOPED IN THE 80S.
19:43BUT IN 1999, THE GAME BEGAN TO CHANGE.
19:49SCIENTISTS AT THE WAKE FOREST SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN THE U.S.
19:52WERE THE FIRST TO GROW A NEW ORGAN FROM SCRATCH, USING THE PATIENT'S OWN CELLS.
20:00IT WAS A RELATIVELY SIMPLE ORGAN, A BLADDER.
20:05WE PLACED THE MOLD WITH THE CELLS IN AN OVEN-LIKE DEVICE.
20:09WE COOKED IT, IF YOU WILL, VERY MUCH LIKE BAKING A LARGE CAKE.
20:12AND WE THEN WERE ABLE TO TAKE THAT ORGAN OUT AND WE WERE ABLE TO PLACE IT INTO PATIENTS.
20:19NOW, SPECIAL PURPOSE-MADE PRINTERS, LIKE THIS ONE IN SAN DIEGO,
20:24ARE PRINTING 3D TISSUE STRUCTURES LIKE BLOOD VESSELS, USING CELLULAR INKS.
20:31INCREDIBLY, THERE'S NO SCAFFOLDING NEEDED.
20:35THE CELLS KEEP FORM ALL BY THEMSELVES.
20:39THEY'RE SMARTER THAN WE ARE IN A LOT OF WAYS.
20:42IT'S THEIR INHERENT PROPERTIES.
20:43I THINK IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S LEVERAGING THE QUALITIES THAT CELLS NATURALLY HAVE,
20:48WHICH IS TO STICK TO EACH OTHER.
20:49WE ARE ABLE TO CONTROL THE SHAPE IN WHICH THEY DO THAT.
20:52AND THEN THE PRINTER BUILDS THE ULTIMATE STRUCTURE.
20:59SO THIS IS WHAT BIOPRINTING IN GENERAL IS ALL ABOUT.
21:03IT'S TAKING CELLS, PRINTING THEM WITH THE RIGHT MATERIALS,
21:08DISTRIBUTE IT IN THE MOST APPROPRIATE WAY IN THREE DIMENSIONS,
21:12SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY ENGINEER CELL PERFORMANCE,
21:15ENGINEER CELL DEVELOPMENT, PROLIFERATION AND DIFFERENTIATION.
21:23GORDON WALLACE'S LABS IN AUSTRALIA HAVE MANAGED TO SHRINK 3D PRINTING DOWN TO A HANDHOLD PEN.
21:30THEY ARE TRIALING IT FOR REPAIRING CARTILAGE, A TISSUE NOTORIOUSLY HARD TO REGENERATE.
21:37NOW, THE TROUBLE WITH THE ORIGINAL PROCEDURE WAS THERE WAS A DEFECT IN THE KNEE.
21:42YOU HARVEST THE STAM CELLS AND LITERALLY INJECT THOSE INTO THAT VOID IN THE KNEE.
21:48SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT SOMETIMES IT WORKED AND SOMETIMES IT DIDN'T.
21:52IT WAS PRETTY HIT AND MISS.
21:55THE BIOPEN PRINTS CELLS DIRECTLY INTO THE JOINT.
22:00THEY'RE ENCASED IN A BIOMATERIAL SCAFFOLD DERIVED FROM SEAWEED,
22:05PROVIDING THE CELLS WITH STRUCTURAL PROTECTION AND AN IDEAL CHEMICAL ENVIRONMENT.
22:12AND SO AT LEAST IN ANIMALS WE'VE SHOWN, THAT'S A MUCH BETTER APPROACH
22:17THAN JUST ALMOST RANDOMLY INTRODUCING THE STEM CELLS.
22:22IT'S AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF TAKING A CELL THERAPY AND MAKING IT MORE EFFECTIVE
22:27THROUGH 3D BIOPRINTING IN COMBINATION WITH ADVANCES IN MATERIALS.
22:33IT'S ALSO AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF WHERE YOU NEED TO HAVE A FULLY INTEGRATED TEAM.
22:38SO THAT INVOLVED A WHOLE TEAM OF MECHATRONIC ENGINEERS
22:41THAT BUILT NEW PRINTERS AS THE PROJECT EVOLVED
22:44AND EVENTUALLY ENDED UP WITH THE BIOPEN, THE HAND-HELD 3D PRINTER.
22:49BUT IT'S AMAZING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHALLENGES THAT WE ENCOUNTERED IN THAT PROJECT.
22:57IT'S THE COMPLEX ORGANS LIKE LIVERS OR KIDNEYS THAT ARE ALSO THE MOST DIFFICULT TO GROW OR PRINT.
23:06BUT SCIENTISTS AT THE WAKE FOREST SCHOOL OF MEDICINE HAVE EVEN MANAGED TO BUILD MINI LIVERS
23:12THAT FUNCTION LIKE THE REAL THING.
23:16OF COURSE THE BIGGER THAT STRUCTURE GETS, WE ALSO NEED TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE A VASCULAR NETWORK.
23:21WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO KEEP THINGS ALIVE.
23:23WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO GET THINGS IN AND OUT OF THAT STRUCTURE THAT WE'VE CREATED.
23:28SO THAT'S THE BIG CHALLENGE FOR ALL OF US IN 3D BIOPRINTING AT THE MOMENT.
23:32AND THERE'S A NUMBER OF STRATEGIES THAT ARE LOOKING VERY PROMISING.
23:40IT'LL BE A DIFFERENT WORLD ALL TOGETHER WHEREBY IF YOU NEED A KIDNEY REPLACEMENT,
23:45YOU JUST GO TO KIDNEY.COM OR TO A SMALL SHOP AND SAY,
23:49CAN I PLEASE HAVE THE KIDNEY OF THAT SIZE THAT FEATURES AND HAVE IT IMPLANTED?
23:53WOULDN'T THAT BE WONDERFUL?
23:59WE'RE STILL A LITTLE WAY OFF BEING ABLE TO ORDER A TALORMADE
24:02ORGAN FROM KIDNEY.COM.
24:04BUT WHAT ABOUT TRUE BIONICS?
24:06USING ELECTRONICS TO REPAIR, ASSIST AND EVEN ENHANCE OUR FUNCTION?
24:12SINCE THE MIDDLE OF LAST CENTURY, THE WORLD HAS IMAGINED MERGING HUMANS WITH MACHINES.
24:19STEP BY STEP, THIS DREAM IS BECOMING A REALITY.
24:28THE FIRST ELECTRONIC IMPLANT WAS THE HEART PACEMAKER, INSERTED IN 1958.
24:36IT WAS THE SAME YEAR THE WORD BIONICS ENTERED OUR LEXICON.
24:42IN THE 70S, THE TV SERIES 6 MILLION DOLLAR MAN MADE BIONICS A PART OF POP CULTURE.
24:49BUT THE MERGING OF MAN WITH MACHINE WENT FROM SCIENCE FICTION TO REALITY IN A VERY SHORT TIME FRAME.
24:57AND I ALWAYS HAD THIS FASCINATION ABOUT MAKING PART HUMAN, PART MACHINE.
25:04THAT WAS MY INSPIRATION, BASICALLY, TO BOND THE HUMAN BODY WITH THE MECHANICAL AND ELECTRONIC PARTS.
25:12A FORMER REFUGEE FROM IRAQ, DR MUNJAD AL-MUDEIRIS, IS ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF A SURGICAL TECHNIQUE
25:19THAT DOES AWAY WITH THE LIMB-IN-A-SOCKET PROSTHESIS.
25:24IRAQ, SINCE THE DAY I OPENED MY EYES, HAS BEEN IN WARS.
25:29THE IEDS AND OTHER EXPLOSIVE DEVICES ARE NOT JUST DESIGNED TO KILL,
25:35BUT IT'S MAINLY DESIGNED TO DESTROY PARTS OF THE BODY.
25:39AND THE WAY THEY ARE DESIGNED IS TO DISABLE PEOPLE.
25:42PEOPLE USUALLY LOSE LIMBS AS A RESULT OF THAT.
25:46SO I'VE SEEN A LOT OF LIMB LOSS AND I'VE SEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE STRUGGLING WITH THEIR
25:50MOBILITY,
25:50ESPECIALLY IF THEY LIVE IN HIGH-TEMPERATURE ENVIRONMENTS.
25:56THE TECHNIQUE USED BY DR AL-MUDEIRIS IS CALLED OSSEO-INTEGRATION,
26:02A WAY OF FUSING THE PROSTHETIC'S MACHINERY DIRECTLY INTO LIVING TISSUE.
26:07OSSEO-INTEGRATION IS A HIGH-END TECHNOLOGY.
26:11IT'S VERY ADVANCED THAT INVOLVES DIRECTLY INSERTING HIGH-TENSIL STRENGTH TITANIUM IMPLANT INTO THE RESIDUAL BONE
26:19AND ATTACHING THAT BONE INTO THE PROSTHESES.
26:26AND THE BONE GROW ON THE PROSTHESES AND BECOME ONE PART.
26:30OSSEO-INTEGRATION FIRST STARTED BEING USED IN AMPUTEES IN 1995.
26:37SINCE THEN, DR AL-MUDEIRIS HAS COME UP WITH WAYS TO IMPROVE BONE INFILTRATION OF THE PROSTHETIC.
26:44DIRECTLY FUSING BONE WITH TITANIUM MEANS THE SKIN AND MUSCLE ARE NO LONGER TAKING THE WEIGHT INSIDE THE SOCKET.
26:52BASICALLY, THE TRADITIONAL SOCKET-MOUTER PROSTHESES IS COMPLETELY NONCOMPATIBLE WITH THE MECHANICS OF A HUMAN BEING.
26:59IT CAUSES FRICTION, HEAT, EXCORIATION, BLISTERS, INFECTIONS, YOU NAME IT.
27:05THE BONE NOW TAKES THE FULL WEIGHT, AS IT WAS DESIGNED TO DO.
27:10THIS ALSO HELPS RESTORE A SENSE OF CONTACT WITH THE GROUND.
27:14THE SENSATION IS VERY IMPORTANT AND WE NEED A FEEDBACK ALWAYS TO OUR BRAIN TO TELL US WHAT WE'RE TOUCHING,
27:20WHAT WE ARE STANDING ON.
27:23WITH ABOVE KNEE EMPUTEES, PATIENTS GET THEIR MOBILITY BACK.
27:27WITH BELOW KNEE EMPUTEES, I DARE TO SAY THAT PATIENTS ALMOST GET THEIR LEG BACK.
27:39IN UPPER ARM PROSTHETICS, THE FIELD HAS GROWN EVEN MORE ADVANCED.
27:45ROBOTIC PROSTHETICS CAN NOW BE CONNECTED ELECTRONICALLY TO NERVES THAT ONCE CONTROLLED HANDS AND ARMS,
27:52ACHIEVING A FORM OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE BRAIN AND THE UPPER LIMB.
27:57FOR EXAMPLE, A PERSON WHO LOST A HAND OR AN ARM, WHEN THEY THINK ABOUT MOVING THEIR FINGERS,
28:05THE ROBOT MOVES, OBEYING THEIR BRAIN COMMANDS.
28:10IN 2014, LES BOW, A BILATERAL AMPUTEE, MADE HISTORY AT JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY.
28:18HE WAS CONNECTED ELECTRONICALLY TO TWO ROBOTIC ARMS AND TRAINED TO CONTROL THEM USING JUST HIS NERVE
28:25IMPULSES.
28:26ONCE THE TRAINING SESSIONS WERE COMPLETE AND THEY RELEASED ME AND LET ME BE THE COMPUTER, BASICALLY,
28:32TO CONTROL THAT ARM, I JUST GO INTO A WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD.
28:37HAVING LOST BOTH HIS LIMBS IN AN ACCIDENT 40 YEARS PRIOR, IT WAS A LIFE-CHANGING MOMENT.
28:51RESTORING CONNECTION BETWEEN THE BRAIN AND THE HANDS, EVEN ROBOTIC ONES, IS ONE OF THE MOST
28:57FUNDAMENTAL STEPS TO RESTORING A TRUE SENSE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN.
29:03AS A HUMAN RACE, OUR DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING BRAIN DEVELOPMENT, IS THANKS TO OUR INCREDIBLE
29:09ABILITY TO USE OUR HANDS, TO MANIPULATE OBJECTS AND CHANGE EVERYTHING AROUND US.
29:16IF YOU LOOK WHERE WE LIVE, OUR ENVIRONMENT, THAT'S ALL MADE BY OUR HANDS, BY THESE
29:23SOPHISTICATED MECHANISMS, WHAT OUR HANDS CAN DO.
29:27AND THAT ALL GOES DOWN TO CONTROL, TO VERY SOPHISTICATED CONTROL WHAT OUR BRAIN HAS IMPLEMENTED.
29:38BIONIC ENGINEERS HAVE THE BRAIN ON THEIR SIDE.
29:41IT'S THE ONE ORGAN THAT CAN INTENTIONALLY SCULPT ITSELF TO MEET NEW CHALLENGES.
29:48IT'S CALLED NEUROPLASTICITY, AND IT HELPS SURVIVORS OF STROKE LEARN TO MOVE AGAIN.
29:57SO AFTER AN INCIDENT, SUCH AS STROKE, PART OF THE BRAIN WILL DIE, AND ALL THE FACTION
30:03ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PART WILL DISAPPEAR INSTANTLY.
30:08HOWEVER, THE BRAIN HAS THIS CAPACITY TO REWIRE ITSELF, MEANING TO TRAIN OTHER CENTERS OF THE BRAIN
30:16THAT WERE NOT INITIALLY ALLOCATED FOR THESE FUNCTIONS TO PROVIDE YOU THE ABILITY TO MOVE AGAIN.
30:26EXOSKELETONS LIKE THESE ARE OFTEN USED IN REHABILITATION.
30:31MACHINE ASSISTED MOVEMENT CAN HELP TRAIN THE BRAIN TO DIRECT MOTOR FUNCTION THROUGH DIFFERENT
30:36NEURAL CIRCUITS.
30:41THE BRAIN WAS INJURED, BUT YOUR MUSCLES ARE OKAY, YOUR JOINTS ARE OKAY, THE TENDONS ARE OKAY.
30:49WITH ALL OF THESE ELEMENTS, YOU POTENTIALLY CAN RECOVER FUNCTION.
30:58IN THE SAME WAY, THE BRAIN CAN LEARN HOW TO MOVE A ROBOTIC LIMB CONNECTED TO REMAINING NERVES IN THE
31:04BODY.
31:06THE BRAIN WILL FIND THE WAY TO DO IT.
31:10AND THAT IS SOMETHING ASTONISHING, BECAUSE BRAIN HAS TO FIGURE OUT WHICH NEURONS ARE CONNECTED TO
31:18ELECTRODES AND WHICH NEURONS IT HAS TO CHANGE FOR ROBOTS TO MOVE AND ACTUALLY DO THINGS.
31:28HOW'S IT FEELING?
31:29BUT THE BRAIN DOESN'T JUST DELIVER SIGNALS.
31:32IT ALSO RECEIVES THEM.
31:34AND THIS FEEDBACK IS CRITICAL TO NATURAL MOVEMENT AND INTERACTIONS.
31:40IT'S WHY YNGVAR'S BEERSNIKS IS DETERMINED TO DEVELOP A WAY TO MAKE PROSTHETIC LIMBS FEEL.
31:49I HAVE BEEN VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT SENSORY SYSTEMS, ANY SENSORY SYSTEMS,
31:54IN FACT, BECAUSE THIS IS HOW WE FEEL WORLD. THE PROBLEM TO MIMIC HUMAN HAND
32:02IS ACTUALLY IN A SOFTWARE. IT'S IN A WAY HOW BRAIN CONTROLS IT. AND TO CONTROL IT,
32:08WE HAVE TO PERCEIVE THE WORLD, WE HAVE TO ACT UPON THE WORLD AROUND US.
32:14TOUCH IS IMPORTANT FOR MANY ASPECTS OF MOTOR FUNCTION,
32:18FROM ADJUSTING GRIP PRESSURE TO MAKING PERSONAL CONTACT.
32:23YOU CAN'T USE YOUR HANDS IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SENSATION BECAUSE ANY DECISION ABOUT MOVEMENT
32:30OR WHAT TO DO WITH OUR HANDS IS TAKEN BASED ON THE SENSORY INFORMATION.
32:36WE FEEL PEOPLE WE LOVE WITH OUR HANDS AND WE CAN HAVE A HANDSHAKE WITH OTHER PERSON.
32:43IT'S VERY IMPORTANT.
32:49TO UNDERSTAND THE NEURAL LANGUAGE OF TOUCH,
32:53YNGVA'S TEAM HAVE BEEN DECODING THE ELECTRICAL NERVE SIGNALS
32:56BETWEEN THE HANDS AND THE BRAIN AS FINGERTIPS MAKE CONTACT.
33:01SO WE HAVE A VERY UNIQUE METHOD WHICH IS CALLED MICRENEUROGRAPHY.
33:06SO WE CAN USE VERY, VERY FINE MICROELECTRODES AND WE CAN INSERT THEM INTO HUMAN NERVE,
33:14USUALLY MEDIA NERVE AT THE WRIST, AND WE CAN RECORD SIGNALS FROM ONE SINGLE RECEPTOR.
33:21EACH FINGERTIP HAS ABOUT 2,000 OF THOSE AND WE CAN RECORD SIGNALS FROM ONE.
33:28WE CAN TELL IN REAL TIME WHAT'S THE FORCE THEY ARE TOUCHING AND WHETHER THERE IS ANY TWIST FORCES APPLIED.
33:38THEY'VE ALSO WORKED OUT HOW TO REPLICATE THOSE SIGNALS.
33:42WE RECENTLY DEVELOPED A METHOD HOW TO CONVEY THOSE MESSAGES BACK TO THE BRAIN.
33:49WE ARE STILL AT THE INFANCY OF THAT METHOD, BUT WE CAN DO IT WITHOUT STICKING IN ELECTRODES
33:55IN THE NERVES OR IN THE BRAIN. WE CAN DO IT NONINVASIVELY, JUST BY MECHANICAL STIMULATION.
34:03EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE MADE GREAT PROGRESS, YNGVAR'S TEAM ARE STILL A LONG WAY FROM REACHING THEIR EVENTUAL GOAL.
34:11TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY WORK ALL TOGETHER, THAT IS SOMETHING WE ARE VERY FAR FROM.
34:18BUT IF THE LAST DECADE IS ANYTHING TO MEASURE THE FUTURE BY,
34:22THE NEXT TEN YEARS WILL BRING BREAKTHROUGHS THAT SCIENTISTS ONCE THOUGHT IMPOSSIBLE.
34:33WHEN GRAHAM CLARK'S FIRST MULTI-CHANNEL COCHLEAR IMPLANT WAS SWITCHED ON IN 1978,
34:40IT GAVE MANY SCIENTISTS PERMISSION TO DREAM BIG.
34:44JENNIFER DAWSON, NOW 24, HAS BEEN TOTALLY DEAF SINCE SHE WAS 13.
34:50BUT WITH THE BIONIC EAR, OR MORE ACCURATELY, A MULTIPLE ELECTRODE COCHLEAR IMPLANT DEVICE,
34:57AND WITH A LOT OF TRAINING, JENNIFER CAN NOW HEAR.
35:03TELEPHONE.
35:04THAT'S GOOD. NOW LISTEN TO THE NEXT ONE.
35:07THE BIONIC EAR BECAME THE FIRST DEVICE TO SUCCESSFULLY RESTORE SENSORY PERCEPTION,
35:13USING ELECTRICAL SIGNALS THAT COULD BE RECEIVED AND INTERPRETED BY THE BRAIN.
35:18THAT RELIED UPON THE TECHNOLOGY THAT CAME FROM THE HEART PACEMAKER.
35:22AND ONE OF THE KEY TECHNOLOGIES THERE WAS THE ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO ENCAPSULATE
35:26THE ELECTRONICS INTO A TITANIUM CAPSULE THAT COULD BE IMPLANTED IN THE BODY,
35:32AND COULD BE DONE SO SAFELY, BOTH FOR THE BODY AND FOR THE ELECTRONICS.
35:37IT INSPIRED MANY RESEARCH GROUPS AROUND THE WORLD TO SERIOUSLY PURSUE
35:42AN EVEN MORE COMPLEX SENSORY CHALLENGE, RESTORING VISION.
35:50ONE OF THOSE GROUPS WAS BIONIC VISION AUSTRALIA.
35:55I WAS VERY FORTUNATE TO WORK WITH PROFESSOR GRAHAM CLARK HERE IN MELBURN.
36:00WE WERE VERY FORTUNATE TO LEVERAGE OFF THAT BOTH IN TERMS OF THE TECHNOLOGY
36:03AND THE PEOPLE WHO HAD THESE SORT OF SKILLS IN OUR DEVELOPMENT OF THE BIONIC EYE.
36:10THEY HOPED TO DEVELOP AN IMPLANT FOR PEOPLE SUFFERING PROFOUND VISION LOSS
36:15FROM RETINAL DISEASE.
36:17THE CONCEPT IS IN A SENSE VERY STRAIGHT FORWARD.
36:20WHAT HAPPENS TYPICALLY IS THAT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE THESE SORT OF RETINAL DEGENERATIVE DISEASES,
36:25THE PHOTORRECEPTORS DIE, BUT THE OTHER NERVE CELLS IN THE EYE, IN THE RETINA, ARE STILL SURVIVING.
36:33THESE BECOME SORT OF THE TARGET FOR THE ELECTRICAL STIMULATION.
36:36AND IF WE CAN GET THE ELECTRODES CLOSE ENOUGH TO THOSE SURVIVING NERVE CELLS,
36:41THOSE ELECTRICAL IMPULSES WILL BE THEN SENT THROUGH THE NERVOUS SYSTEM TO THE VISION-PROCESSING PARTS OF THE BRAIN.
36:48AND THE BRAIN WILL THEN INTERPRET THAT AS THE IMAGE.
36:53ENGINEERING A BIONIC EYE HAS BEEN A FAR MORE COMPLEX CHALLENGE THAN THE EAR FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
37:00FIRSTLY, ITS LOCATION.
37:02THE RETINA IS A VERY DELICATE TISSUE AND YOU HAVE TO GET THE ELECTRODES VERY CLOSE TO THAT.
37:07THE EYE ITSELF OF COURSE ALWAYS MOVES TOO.
37:10THAT'S WHY IT'S TAKEN ANOTHER COUPLE OF DECADES FOLLOWING ON FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COCHLARIMPLANT
37:15BEFORE WE COULD HAVE THE ELECTRONICS SMALL ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO FIT INSIDE THE EYE
37:20AND ROBUST ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT FOR THE LIFETIME OF A PATIENT.
37:26THE SECOND CHALLENGE WAS UNDERSTANDING HOW TO ENCODE PICTURES IN THE RIGHT PATTERN OF ELECTRICAL SIGNALS FOR SURVIVING NERVE CELLS.
37:35ENCODING VISION IS A MAJOR STEP UP IN COMPLEXITY FROM ENCODING SOUND.
37:40THE EAR YOU CAN THINK OF AS BEING ONE-DIMENSIONAL.
37:43YOU BASICALLY DIVIDE UP THE SOUNDS INTO THE FREQUENCY COMPONENTS.
37:48AND THE DIFFERENT FREQUENCY COMPONENTS THEN CORRESPOND TO DIFFERENT ELECTRODES AS THEY'RE INSERTED INTO THE EAR.
37:52A LITTLE BIT LIKE A PIANO KEYBOARD.
37:56AND THEN YOU STIMULATE THE DIFFERENT ELECTRODES CORRESPONDING TO THE DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES IN THE SIGNAL.
38:00WHEREAS OF COURSE WITH THE EYE WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS TO PRESENT THE IMAGE.
38:05AND THAT'S PROVED TO BE QUITE CHALLENGING.
38:09THEIR BIONIC EYE WORKS BY CAPTURING IMAGES VIA A SMALL CAMERA MOUNTED ONTO A PAIR OF GLASSES.
38:16THE GLASSES PROCESS THE IMAGE AND SEND THE INFORMATION WIRELESSLY TO AN ARRAY OF ELECTRODES IN THE EYE.
38:25WITH A LIMITED AMOUNT OF ELECTRODES, A FURTHER CHALLENGE WAS HOW TO MAKE THE PICTURE CONTAIN ENOUGH INFORMATION FOR NAVIGATION,
38:34THE MAIN OBJECTIVE.
38:38FIRST OF ALL, IT'S BLACK AND WHITE.
38:40AND IT ALSO CONSISTS OF THINGS WE CALL PHOSPHENES, WHICH ARE AREAS OF LIGHT AND DARK IN THE VISUAL FIELD.
38:46SO BY STIMULATING THE DIFFERENT ELECTRODES, WE CAN ACTUALLY CONTROL THE LEVEL OF BRIGHTNESS OR DARKNESS ON THAT IMAGE.
38:53AND THEN PAINT A BLACK AND WHITE PICTURE OF THE ENVIRONMENT THAT THE PATIENT'S LOOKING AT.
38:59DESPITE THE ENORMOUS ENGINEERING AND BIOLOGIC CHALLENGES IN MAKING A FUNCTIONING BIONIC EYE, SEVERAL TEAMS AROUND THE WORLD HAVE NOW
39:08SUCCEEDED IN THEIR QUEST.
39:11THE WORLD'S FIRST BIONIC EYE WAS IMPLANTED IN 2009.
39:16THE AUSTRALIAN TEAM FOLLOWED SOON AFTER.
39:20THEY ENJOYED IT, THEY ACTUALLY FOUND IT ENORMOUSLY USEFUL.
39:24WE IMAGINED THAT IT WASN'T GOING TO GIVE THEM A HUGE AMOUNT OF ACUITY, BUT IT WOULD PROVIDE THEM WITH
39:29ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO NAVIGATE AROUND THEIR ENVIRONMENT.
39:32THE THINGS THAT WE HADN'T ANTICIPATED WAS THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU COULD ALSO FACILITATE SOCIAL INTERACTION.
39:38SO THEY ACTUALLY KNEW, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT THERE WERE PEOPLE STANDING NEARBY THEM.
39:42THEY HAD THAT SORT OF SENSE OF CONNECTION WITH PEOPLE.
39:45FROM THESE EARLY MODELS, RESEARCHERS EXPECT BIONIC EYES TO DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE IN RESOLUTION AND SOPHISTICATION, MUCH LIKE THE BIONIC EAR.
39:56WE WANT TO GET DOWN TO BE ABLE TO STIMULATE SMALLER AND SMALLER GROUPS OF NEURONS IN A WAY THAT
40:02REALLY DOES CORRESPOND TO THE WAY IN WHICH THE BRAIN INTERPRETS THE IMAGE.
40:06BUT THE TECHNOLOGY HASN'T CONVERGED, AT THIS STAGE ANYWAY, TO SOMETHING THAT WE THINK WILL BE THE OPTIMAL YET.
40:21WHETHER IT'S MOVEMENT OR THE SENSES, THE BRAIN IS THE MASTER CONTROLLER OF THE ENTIRE BODY.
40:29IF RESEARCHERS COULD DEVELOP ELECTRONICS THAT COULD BE CONTROLLED DIRECTLY FROM HERE, IT WOULD OPEN UP A NEW WORLD FOR
40:37QUADRIPLEGICS LIKE MARK TONGER.
40:48JUST OVER A DECADE AGO, MARK SUFFERED A NECK INJURY DURING A RUGBY TRAINING DRILL.
40:55MOVING ANYWHERE IS A CHALLENGE.
40:59BUT IN 2006, RESEARCHERS AT BROWN UNIVERSITY ACHIEVED THE EQUIVALENT OF A MIRACLE,
41:05PROVIDING THOSE LIKE MARK WITH TREMENDOUS HOPE.
41:10THEY DEMONSTRATED THAT PEOPLE WITH PARALYSIS IN ALL FOUR LIMBS COULD CONTROL A TELEVISION, COMPUTER AND ROBOT
41:18FROM A SMALL SENSOR IMPLANTED IN THEIR MOTOR CORTEX.
41:22THEY NAMED THEIR CHIP BRAINGATE.
41:27I WAS INSPIRED INITIALLY BY THE GUYS FROM BRAINGATE WHO PUBLISHED A REALLY AMAZING PAPER
41:33THAT SHOWED FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT IN A HUMAN THAT YOU COULD TURN A THOUGHT PATTERN
41:37INTO AN OUTPUT SIGNAL TO DRIVE A ROBOTIC LIMB.
41:42OTHER BRAINCHIP EXPERIMENTS SINCE HAVE ALSO SHOWN SUCCESSFUL RESULTS.
41:49BUT THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT DRAWBACK.
41:52THE BRAIN IS AN ORGAN WHICH WILL ACTIVELY WORK AGAINST ANY INVASION,
41:57AND OVER TIME WE'LL BUILD UP A WALL OF SCAR TISSUE AROUND THE IMPLANT.
42:02IF YOU PUT A CHIP DIRECTLY INTO THE BRAIN,
42:05YOU WILL HAVE AN ONGOING FOREIGN REJECTION SCAR PROCESS IN THE BODY,
42:09AND THAT'S SHOWN THAT THAT DOES EVENTUALLY LEAD TO A CHANGE IN THE QUALITY
42:13OF THE BRAIN RECORDING SYSTEM.
42:19BUT THE BRAIN GATE DISCOVERY INSPIRED NEUROSCIENTIST THOMAS OXLEY INTO ACTION
42:24WITH AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT APPROACH.
42:28IN 2010, HE TRAVELED TO THE U.S. AND APPROACHED DEFENSE RESEARCH GROUP DARPA,
42:34WHICH HAD PARTIALLY FUNDED THE BRAIN GATE PROGRAM.
42:38I WENT TO THE GUY WHO RAN THE PROGRAM,
42:41AND I WALKED IN THE INTERVIEW AND I ASKED HIM
42:42WHY NO-ONE WAS USING STENTS INSIDE THE BRAIN TO INTERACT WITH THE BRAIN TISSUE.
42:48AND HE SAID, OH, THAT'S A GOOD IDEA, NO-ONE'S DONE THAT.
42:52DARPA PLEDGED A MILLION DOLLARS ON THE SPOT.
42:56AND SO WE CAME BACK, WENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE,
42:59AND WE STARTED A PROGRAM TO BUILD A TECHNOLOGY
43:03THAT COULD BE IMPLANTED INTO A BLOOD VESSEL IN THE BRAIN THROUGH A CATHETER.
43:08IT WAS A TRULY MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH.
43:12MATHEMATICS, PHYSICS, COMPUTER SCIENCE, MATERIAL SCIENCE,
43:17NEUROPHYSIOLOGY, SIGNAL PROCESSING.
43:20SO MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE NEEDED TO COME TOGETHER TO MAKE IT WORK.
43:23THE IDEA WAS REVOLUTIONARY, BECAUSE IT INVOLVES NO BRAIN SURGERY AT ALL.
43:29BY IMPLANTING ELECTRODE'S IN A VESSEL, YOU COULD GET DEEP INSIDE THE MOTOR CORTEX
43:34TO READ BRAIN ACTIVITY, WHILE AVOIDING ANY CHANCE OF BRAIN TISSUE SCARRING.
43:39THEY CALLED IT STENTRODE.
43:43SO STENTRODE IS STENT ELECTRODE.
43:46ELECTRODE MEANS YOU CAN RECORD BRAIN ACTIVITY.
43:50STENT IS A METAL SCAFFOLD THAT OPENS INTO THE BLOOD VESSEL AND HOLDS AND STAYS THERE.
44:02THE TEAM DESIGNED A NICLE-TITANIUM ALLOY SCAFFOLD DOTTED WITH ELECTRODES,
44:07WHICH COULD COLLAPSE TO JUST A MILLIMETRE THICK AND EXPAND ONCE IN THE VESSEL.
44:14THEY ALSO HAD TO DEVELOP A SPECIAL CATHETER DELIVERY SYSTEM.
44:20WE GET INTO THE BRAIN FROM COMING STARTING IN THE NECK,
44:23THE SAME WAY A PACEMAKER PROCEDURE USUALLY BEGINS, JUST NEAR THE CLABICAL.
44:27AND THEN WE GO UP THROUGH THE SKULL, THROUGH THE JUGULAR VEIN, GO UP INTO THE BRAIN,
44:32AND THEN GET TO WHERE WE NEED TO GET TO.
44:35NO-ONE HAD A CLUE WHETHER IT WOULD ACTUALLY WORK.
44:38TO TEST THE DEVICE, THEY RAN A PRE-CLINICAL TRIAL INVOLVING SHEEP,
44:42HOPING TO ANSWER SOME OF THE KEY QUESTIONS,
44:45SUCH AS WHETHER THEY COULD EVEN GET A BRAIN SIGNAL FROM THE STAND.
44:49TO THIS POINT, WE'VE ACHIEVED TWO MAJOR MILESTONES.
44:52THE FIRST MAJOR MILESTONE WAS PROVING FOR THE FIRST TIME
44:56THAT WE COULD RECORD BRAIN ACTIVITY.
44:59AND WHEN I SAY BRAIN ACTIVITY, IT'S CHANGES IN VOLTAGE POTENTIALS.
45:03THE SECOND THING WAS THAT WE CAN DELIVER INFORMATION OR STIMULATION INTO THE BRAIN.
45:10THE FIRST STAGE WAS A SUCCESS.
45:13THE NEXT STAGE INVOLVES HUMAN TRIALS AND DEVELOPING A SYSTEM THAT CAN TRANSLATE TWO-WAY NEURAL CODE.
45:23THIS TECHNOLOGY STARTED OUT WITH THE PROBLEM OF TRYING TO CONTROL A ROBOTIC LIMB.
45:27WE'VE NOW TAKEN A STEP BACK.
45:30RATHER THAN BEING APPLICATION SPECIFIC IN WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO CONTROL,
45:34WE SAID, LET'S TRY TO GIVE THE PATIENT CONTROL OVER A UNIVERSAL JOYSTICK.
45:39LET'S BE AGNOSTIC AS TO WHAT THAT END-USER APPLICATION OR TECHNOLOGY IS.
45:46FOR PEOPLE LIKE MARK TONGER, STENTRO MAY PROVIDE ACCESS TO CONTROL OF BASIC DEVICES AND ROBOTIC LIMBS.
45:56BRINGS ME CLOSE TO TEARS, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IT'S, YOU KNOW, EDGING CLOSER TO PERSON LIKE ME,
46:03CLAWING BACK SOME SORT OF FREEDOM.
46:09BUT COULD IT GO FURTHER THAN AIDING THE DISABLED?
46:13IF STENTRODE CAN WIRELESSLY CONNECT THE BRAIN TO THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS,
46:17IT MAY OPEN UP ALL KINDS OF POSSIBILITIES.
46:21WE ARE TARGETING PEOPLE WHO ARE SEVERELY DISABLED WHO CANNOT INTERACT WITH THE PHYSICAL WORLD.
46:26BUT WHAT IF THE SYSTEM HELPS THEM INTERACT WITH THE COMPUTER IN A WAY THAT NORMAL PEOPLE CAN'T ANYMORE?
46:32AND WHAT IF THE SYSTEM BECOMES SO SAFE THAT IT LETS PEOPLE CONTROL SYSTEMS?
46:37WHO WOULD WANT TO CONTROL THE SYSTEM IN A WAY THAT IS BEYOND HUMAN LIMITATION?
46:45SETTING THE LIGHTING AT HOME, SWITCHING ON HEATING, CONNECTING TO MEDIA DEVICES.
46:50WE CAN NOW DO IT ALL FROM OUR PHONES.
46:53BUT COULD IT SOON JUST BE DONE WITH OUR MINDS?
46:56WITH THE RATE OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADOPTION, IT SEEMS INEVITABLE THAT WE'LL EVENTUALLY BECOME BIONIC PEOPLE,
47:03ESCAPING THE LIMITATIONS OF THE HUMAN BODY.
47:06AND THAT HAS SOME UNNERVING IMPLICATIONS.
47:13THE IDEA OF A MICROCHIP IN THE BRAIN THAT CAN ACCESS THIRD-PARTY APPLICATIONS IS NOT TOO BIG A JUMP
47:20FROM WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW.
47:23EARLY ADOPTERS ARE ALREADY IMPLANTING MICROCHIPS UNDER THEIR SKIN TO REPLACE THE ONES IN THEIR WALLET.
47:31IN 1997, A BIO ARTIST WAS THE FIRST MAN TO IMPLANT HIMSELF WITH A MICROCHIP IMPLANT.
47:40AND HE DID THIS WHILE IT WAS BEING FILMED VIRTUALLY AND PLAYED ON THE INTERNET.
47:45AND THE WORLD LOOKED ON AND THOUGHT, WOW, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SOMEBODY'S IMPLANTED SOMETHING.
47:50THAT IS FOR SOME OTHER REASON THAN A MEDICAL HEART PACEMAKER OR ORTHOPEDIC JOINT REPLACEMENT.
47:56A COUPLE OF DECADES LATER, IT'S ON THE VERGE OF BECOMING COMMONPLACE.
48:02IN SWEDEN, WHERE THE FIRST BIG TRIALS OF IMPLANTABLE CHIPS TOOK PLACE, THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS HAVE NOW JUMPED ON BOARD.
48:11IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, COMPANIES HAVE BEGUN TO OFFER CHIP IMPLANTS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO SWIPE CARDS.
48:18SO THEY'RE NFC OR RFID MICROCHIPS, WHICH ARE SIMILAR TO WHAT'S IN YOUR CREDIT CARD.
48:24MOST PEOPLE ARE USING THEM FOR ACCESS AND AUTHENTICATIONS.
48:28THEY'LL REPLACE THEIR FRONT DOOR LOCK OR USE IT INSTEAD OF A WORK DONGL OR BADGE.
48:33THEY'RE STILL EARLY ADOPTERS, BUT IT IS HAPPENING.
48:37CAILA HEFFENEN IS ONE OF THOSE EARLY ADOPTERS.
48:40AND SHE'S RUN A SMALL STUDY IN AUSTRALIA ON CHIP USABILITY.
48:45I'VE HAD NO-ONE HAVE REJECTION.
48:48AND BECAUSE IT'S COMPLETELY UNDER THE SKIN, IT'S NOT LIKE A PIERCING WITH AN OPEN WOUND.
48:53IT HEALS QUITE QUICKLY.
48:56THERE'S NO BIOCOMPATIBILITY OR USABILITY PROBLEMS.
49:00THE ISSUE IS NOW GETTING THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO CATCH UP.
49:05AN INTERESTING FINDING OF MY RESEARCH IS THAT NONE OF THEM REGRESS IT.
49:10SO IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW IT UNFULDS.
49:14IT'S ONE STEP AWAY FROM BECOMING SUPERHUMAN.
49:17WITH ONE SWIPE OF THE WRIST, YOU CAN ACCESS TRANSPORT, BUY GOODS,
49:23SWITCH ON THE LIGHTS.
49:27BUT AS IMPLANTABLE CHIPS MOVE FROM NOVELTY TO MAINSTREAM,
49:30THERE ARE BIG, ETHICAL QUESTIONS.
49:35AS THESE THINGS BECOME MORE REQUIRED,
49:38WHAT YOU HAVE IS A SUSPICION OF THOSE THAT DON'T HAVE DEVICES.
49:42AH, THAT PERSON DOESN'T HAVE A MOBILE PHONE.
49:45OH, THEY'RE AWKWARD.
49:47AND WHO'S GOING TO OWN THE IMPLANT?
49:49YOU KNOW, YOUR CREDIT CARD COMPANY, YOUR TELEPHONE COMPANY,
49:51DANGEROUSTHINGS.COM, AND THE ANSWER IS NOT YOU.
49:56TRADE UNIONS IN THE UK HAVE ALREADY EXPRESSED CONCERN
50:00THAT WORKERS MAY BE COERCED INTO BEING MICROCHIPPED.
50:04THERE ARE RULES THAT REQUIRE US TO IMPLANT OUR PETS IN AUSTRALIA,
50:09FOR INSTANCE.
50:10THE NEW SOUTH WALES COMPANION ANIMAL ACT DICTATED FROM 1998
50:14THAT YOUR CAT AND DOG MUST BE MICROCHIPPED AND REGISTERED.
50:19IS IT EVENTUALLY GOING TO BE THE HUMAN PLIGHT?
50:22TO HAVE THESE CONTROL DEVICES, ALMOST BLACK BOXES IN THE BODY,
50:26AND DENOTE WHERE EVERYONE IS AT ANY POINT IN TIME,
50:29IS A FASCINATING KIND OF HYPOTHESIS AND SCENARIO.
50:35I THINK IT'S INEVITABLE.
50:45ALMOST EVERY MOVE WE MAKE TODAY IS TRACKED BY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY.
50:51WHETHER IT'S CAMERAS, PHONES, TRANSACTIONS OR MICROCHIPPS.
50:57BUT A TWO-WAY BRAIN INTERFACE IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT STORY.
51:04SUBSECURITY IS A MAJOR CONCERN.
51:06WE'RE TALKING NOW ABOUT BRAIN DATA THAT'S STREAMING OUT OF YOUR BRAIN,
51:09WHICH AFFECTS A TECHNOLOGY THAT YOU'RE USING,
51:12THAT YOU'RE EXERTING FREE WILL OVER, AND THAT IS HACKABLE.
51:18THERE ARE ETHICAL CONCERNS OVER WHERE THIS TECHNOLOGY GOES,
51:21OVER HOW WE KEEP IT SAFE, OVER WHO GETS ACCESS TO IT,
51:24OVER WHO CAN PAY FOR IT, OVER WHERE DOES IT MOVE IN THE FUTURE,
51:27AND HOW IS IT GOING TO AFFECT THE HUMAN CONDITION?
51:31UNTIL NOW, THE SOVEREIGNTY OF OUR THOUGHTS HAS NEVER BEEN IN QUESTION.
51:37BUT ONCE BRAIN SIGNALS ARE PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD,
51:40EVEN THIS FINAL BARRIER BETWEEN MAN AND MACHINE MAY COLLAPSE.
51:47OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.
51:49SORRY TO BREAK INTO EVERYONE, THE BRAIN IS A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL STORMS,
51:53WHICH CAN BE RED IF YOU CAN MAP AND WATCH THE CHANGES IN ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY
51:59THAT OCCUR OVER A PERIOD OF TIME IN A CERTAIN PART OF THE BRAIN,
52:02YOU KNOW WHAT SOMEONE IS THINKING OR DOING.
52:06ONCE YOU CAN GET INSIDE THE BRAIN, YOU CAN INTERACT WITH IT IN A WAY
52:09THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE PREVIOUSLY IMAGINED.
52:12BUT FOR PEOPLE WITH RESTRICTED MOBILITY, IT'S A GOOD REASON FOR OPTIMISM.
52:18I'VE ALWAYS SAID IF YOU HAD TO BE INJURED WITH A SEVERE PHYSICAL
52:21IMPAIRMENT LIKE MYSELF, THIS WOULD BE PROBABLY THE TIME TO SUSTAIN AN INJURY.
52:29WHAT'S BEEN ACHIEVED IN THE PAST FEW DECADES BRINGS THE PROMISE OF FREEDOM
52:34AND HOPE TO THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST.
52:38THE GIFT OF SIGHT, HEARING, MOVEMENT AND HUMAN CONNECTION.
52:47I LOVE SEEING THE HUMAN SPIRIT INTERACTING WITH TECHNOLOGY TO OVERCOME THEIR LIMITATIONS.
52:55BUT AT SOME POINT, THEY'RE GOING TO RUN FASTER THAN THE NORMAL HUMAN.
52:58AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GO, OH, HANG ON, IS THIS WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?
53:02AND I THINK IT IS. I THINK IT SHOULD BE.
53:04IT'S ABOUT HUMAN SPIRIT AND ENDEAVOR AND OVERCUMING OUR PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS.
53:08BUT IT'S GOING TO GET INTERESTING.
53:13PERHAPS THE DAY IS COMING WHEN BIONIX FINALLY DELIVERS US A TRUE SUPERHUMAN.
53:20FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:32FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:51FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:53FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:54FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:56FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:57FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:57FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:58FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
53:58FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE.
Comments