What if the blind could see? What if the legless amputee could wiggle their toe, feel the grass on their feet? What if the wounded soldiers or even civilians did not have to bleed to death, but instead had the bleeding stopped in just one quick single step? No longer are these questions just wishful thinking with some fairytail solution. No, these are all questions for which there are answers, answers that are set both in the now and in the soon.

 

The field of neural engineering is really booming, making it a reality for impaired individuals to have the same motor and somatosensory skills as non-impaired individuals. No longer is the future dark, today those who are blind may through sensory substitution systems be able to “see”, by connecting a camera to a lollipop-like device that is situated on the tongue. The camera sends an electric current through this lollipop-like device, alternating the amount of current in accordance to light recording on the camera, which allows the user to differentiate between different lights thus letting the person see without the use of their eyes. This is the Brainport, this is the future.

 

Already there are “smart” options for amputees, smart prosthetics, or as they are otherwise known: motor prosthetics. Motor prosthetics are in themselves fantastic but then there is the research being done to add somatosensory feedback into these prosthetics which is fantastic. Although there are yet any really good motor prosthetic with somatosensation, it should soon be a very real possibility for those who are missing limbs. The research which is being done in this field is not only invaluable to amputees, but also applies to a wide range of patients such as those who simply have lowered or lost function. At the moment one of the primary goals, amongst a couple of other things, for realising somatosensation for prosthetics is to determine the location which would be optimal for the neural stimulation interface. These are all goals which lots of effort is being put making the availability of motor prosthetics with somatosensation a reality, hopefully sooner than later.

 

One of the leading causes of death in battlefields is even today haemorrhage, bleeding to death and to solve this issue a new product was created, the xstat. The Xstat is the first of its kind, ejecting sponges into a wound that creates and temporary cloth. All the sponges are marked with x-shaped marks that are visible under an x-ray, to ensure that no sponge is left in the body. This is only a temporary solution. The company describes their products design for combat medics and civilian first responders, to prevent internal bleeding in a pre-hospital environment. An interesting lifesaving fact, is that it only takes 15 seconds for the sponges to expand and fill the wound cavity, thus creating pressure that will stop any heavy bleeding. This has and will save lives. Science keeps exploring new ways to beat nature and keeps looking towards the future horizon.