Human Prosthetics for Paralysis: Richard Andersen at TEDxCaltech

Richard Andersen, the James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience at Caltech, studies neural mechanisms of sight, hearing, balance, touch, and action, and the development of neural prosthetics. Andersen obtained a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Medical School. He was a faculty member of the Salk Institute and MIT before coming to Caltech. Andersen is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is recipient of a McKnight Foundation Scholars Award, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, Visiting Professor at the College de France, and the Spencer Award from Columbia University. He has served as Director of the McDonnell/Pew Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at MIT, and the Sloan-Swartz Center for Theoretical Neurobiology at Caltech, as well as being a member or chair of various government advisory committees.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

[JediKittie]

John Baldwin, even though these prosthetics do not provide a cure, they provide the disabled the opportunity to be more independent. The ability to do things themselves with just a thought is mind blowing. They may still need help with basic things but the ability to pour yourself a bowl of cereal and be able to feed yourself or even open the door for yourself is nothing short of astounding. Speaking for a disabled family member, this is amazing work.
No cure doesn't equal no hope.

[alitopan]

It's great to know that such scientific advances are being made in this world

[squamish]

I would think that once this technology is truly practical and functional, it would be obsolete, because if they can do this they should be able to perform surgery to repair spinal cords either by regrowing the tissue or bridging the damaged area with hardware to send signals past it.

[KalanYore]

Heathly animals that does not have the impairments nor of disease of humans do not need to be used for test subjects as there are better fesible methods that is already established however as a medical device under FDA & the consensus of the board of modern medicine states requires it before meeting the requirements for human testing then onto the release approval of such devices, Rx & over the counter meds and that also falls of other goods that is applied to the body and ingested by humans.

[anonforuz]

I cant wait for Law and Order to look like Ghost in the Shell.

[KalanYore]

Regardless of approvals &/or technological advances/breakthroughs in the medical sciences & of modern medicine practices & "treatment" as they do not pursue to find cures as there is no value in it to sustain & secure profitability of revenue.
I do applaud this technology however it could of been done differently when real & true "ethical" means are applied...whereas ethics is ignored.
The risk is always there of any medical procedures/treatments - through design there is failure implemented.