These congregants from more than 20 disciplines--including materials scientists, neurologists, histopathologists, electrochemists, neurophysiologists, orthopedic surgeons, urologists, otolaryngologists and engineers--come to discuss their attempts at miracles at the Neural Prosthesis Workshop, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.
While the popular press often covers neural prosthetics research with a science fiction twist, portraying the scientists as on a mission to create the bionic man, the researchers are actually working toward helping a diverse group of disabled people function more normally in their daily lives.
Many disabilities, ranging from deafness to paralysis, are caused by severed connections between nerves and the muscles they stimulate. Investigators working on neural prosthetic devices are trying to design systems to circumvent these damaged neural pathways.
Each year, NIH spends $6.5 million on its Neural Prosthesis Program through its National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and its National Institute on Deafness and Other ...
