Robotics
Assistive Technology of the Future
Tori A. Deines
Computer Literacy 101
Michael Jones
08/07/2008
Robotics: Assistive Technology of the Future
Every day thousands of people use the loss of some part of their body. People have strokes, accidents, and develop ailments that restrict the use of bodily function. Millions of dollars and years of time are spent developing new ways to help these individuals return to a normal life. Doctors and scientist work together, developing new methods to help restore essential function to people in need. Many transplants been successful and those few who have received them have been given new hope. The people who are lucky enough to get this amazing gift still have to wait for their bodies to accept the transplant. This means that there could be a chance of infection, a lifetime of anti-rejection drugs, and the chance of dying. The people who receive transplants to restore a lost limb are far and few between. There is a greater population that is living without a limb. Many of these people have lost a limb to illness, such as diabetes. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 1.9 million people are living without a limb. Amazingly, this equals approximately 1 out of 200 people who are minus some part of their body. These people are often fitted with prosthetics and taught how to function to adapt to a disability (Samuels, 2007). Stroke victims are put into months (years) of therapy with the hope of returning to a normal state of life. Imagine there was a new form of therapy that involved the robotics, or if the prosthetics people needed were fully functioning and worked on command. Wouldn’t be amazing if a quadriplegic could become more independent with the use of a robotic aid? Does this sound scientifically impossible, or like something that is only in Sci-Fi movies? Guess again; the technology is here and is becoming a valuable tool for individual with disabilities. As technology increases, so...