We have followed the Defense Department’s investment in developing advanced prosthesis spurred by noted medical technology developer Dean Kamen. Over the weekend, CBS 60 Minutes, took us on a behind the scenes tour of Dean Kamen’s company, DEKA, and the most recent advancements in prosthesis development.
Ling [Dr. Geoffrey Ling, an Army colonel and neurologist who’s leading the Revolutionizing Prosthetics program] told Pelley [60 Minutes correspondent] it’s a very large scale project. “It is very much like a Manhattan Project at that scope. It is over $100 million investment now. It involves well over 300 scientists, that is engineers, neuroscientists, psychologists.
The technology development is fascinating and ever improving, but clearly there is a ways to go to make this prosthetic cost effective and more functional for widespread implementation.
60 Minutes: The Pentagon Bionic Arm…
NOTE: Please join us in welcoming a new addition to Medgadget editorial board. Martin Neumann is a a post-doc in Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at University of Illinois. In addition to holding a PhD in Nuclear Engineering, he is also a medical student, now finishing his second year. In between exams, upcoming USMLE, post-doc work, ets, he will be blogging to educate all of us. This is his first post.