Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 7.7.
The personal interior/exterior perceptual prosthesis system.
complementary sensor system, is focussed on the relationship in communicating
and delivering the required and proper sensing abilities and effective control of
the human-related environment. The function has in the field of medical technol-
ogy an important feature to reconstruct new functions in replacing missing body
parts. In some way the given systems can be seen as prolonging the human sens-
ing abilities, if concluded in a perceptual acting prosthesis. In a wide perspective,
the artificial prosthesis device may exhibit functions that are more advanced than
a corresponding body function for example in symbiosis with human as shown in
Fig. 7.10.
7.3.1 Personal Interior (Prosthesis) Systems
The human body is today a functional unit that has been developed and refined
during generations. Its parts smoothly perform the functions of fine-tuned, inte-
grated and coordinated entirety. This complex functions then creates a complexity
and in some sense an unique human. However, due to coincidences in life and cer-
tain unforcseen occations which may happen, e.g., by disease or accident, which
can result in change in our performance. This may result in loss in abilities and
variations in functions between individuals and the need for replacement of func-
tions may then be obvious. Nowadays, limbs can be replaced by artificial solu-
tions. The inner organs, e.g., kidney, heart, etc., may be replaced and the medical
competence today is able to make the human to integrate with high technology-
based functionality incorporated as spare parts in the body. The next development
phase may include the direction to make perceptual prosthesis available to human
prosthesis selection.
The skin, however, may already today be substituted by artificial-based de-
veloped skin. Tactile hand prosthesis has been presented in the literature and the
interface between the neural pathways and a hand is now available. Today there
is a possibility to make micro-solutions when designing an electronic nose system
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