Bionic Woman/Man: Concept of the future? Think Again.

Some of you may remember the shows “The Six Million Dollar Man” (based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin) and “The Bionic Woman” from back in the 70s. (Shirley, one of the CareTALK Gals, LOVES those shows). Back then, having bionic limbs you could control automatically with just your thoughts seemed something out of this world and VERY futuristic.

Well, the future is now!

The articles in the Washington Post For 1st Woman With Bionic Arm, a New Life Is Within Reach and Man's Bionic Arm Provides Hope for GIs, describe the advances in prosthetic limbs that have occurred. Now, the latest version of the “bionic” arm designed by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, allows the person to move their prosthetic arm with just their thoughts—just like they would with their natural arm. According to the article, the rehabilitation lab was funded by DARPA, an organization within the Department of Defense. (In “The Six Million Dollar Man”, the first bionic man came about as a result of a military experiment). This is wonderful news to all the amputees from the wars—but also to all amputees in general.

Undoubtedly, these bionic arms are expensive and need further testing prior to mass consumer use. However, it would be interesting to know what plans, if any, they have for mass consumer use (ie. will insurance companies pay for this? will the government (Medicare/Medicaid) cover this?).