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What Are Bionic Body Parts?

Bionic body parts originate from the development by scientists of artificial, electronically operated mechanical systems that can augment or replace living limbs or physical functions. The popular television show of the 1970's "The Six Million Dollar Man" concerned a man whose damaged body was rebuilt with bionic arms, legs and a bionic eye. Bionic technology has enabled the development of prosthetic arms, legs, hands and feet, as well as bionically enhanced hearing, sight and even heartbeat regulation.

  1. Bionic Technology

    • Bionic limbs, sight, hearing and other artificial physical enhancements exist largely because of bionic technology. This developing science has given a former quadriplegic, Eric Schremp, the ability to move his fingers and grip a fork with the help of an electronic device under his skin, National Geographic reports. Bionic technology enables a surgeon to connect microscopic electrodes to devices implanted in a patient's nervous system that respond to commands from the brain.

    Bionic Prosthetic Arm

    • Before the creation of the bionic prosthetic arm, people who had an arm amputated were fitted with a prosthetic arm that had restricted movement. It relied on a system of cables and levers that enabled the pincer-type fingers to pick up items. The bionic modular prosthetic arm gives a person the ability to accomplish nearly 22 arm and hand movements, according to National Geograpic. Surgeons reconnect nerves that had formerly been attached to the patient's lower arm to other muscles in the arm. Wires embedded in the prosthesis and electrodes places on muscles convey brain commands to the muscles.

    Bionic Leg Device

    • Several types of bionic prosthetic legs and bionic body parts are designed to assist those who have lost legs or are unable to walk for some other reason. A bionic leg can restore movement to those whose movements are inhibited by a medical cause such as a stroke. This device is worn outside a person's clothing, and has leg braces outfitted with motion sensors and motorized joints, CBS News reports. The person is harnessed into the unit and has a backpack holding a computer that operates the artificial legs.

    Bionic Eyesight

    • Persons who have loss of eyesight because of an injury can now regain partial eyesight through bionic technology. This is accomplished with a device that uses a digital camera, mounted on glasses, that sends the captured images to a small computer on the wearer's belt. Once processed, the digital images are transferred to electrodes implanted in the person's visual cortex. This allows the stimulated brain to produce an image that can enable a person to walk through a room without aids and accomplish other tasks that require sight, even limited driving, according to the website Upgrade Your Body.

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