Dust-sized wireless sensors could control prosthetics someday

    See that minuscule component in the image  above? That's a wireless sensor, and someday, doctors could slip it into  our bodies to monitor our organs like a microscopic Fitbit or even to  give quadri- and paraplegics the power to control robotic arms or legs. A team of scientists from the University of California, Berkeley have developed  an early iteration of the sensor that's about the size of a grain of  rice. Each sensor has a piezoelectric crystal that can convert  ultrasound vibrations into energy. It also allows the teensy device to  beam back data collected from nerve cells in the brain if it's used to  control bionic limbs.          While the current version, which is only 3 millimeters long with a 1  millimeter cube attached to it, is already tiny, the team plans to  shrink it down further. They're looking to create a version that's half  the width of human hair -- they are calling the sensors "neural  dust," after all -- using components that can last inside a human body  forever. That way, people who need prosthetics won't have to deal with  relatively humongous implantable electrodes that can only last for a year or two.As team member Ryan Neely said:

"The  original goal of the neural dust project was to imagine the next  generation of brain-machine interfaces, and to make it a viable clinical  technology. If a paraplegic wants to control a computer or a robotic  arm, you would just implant this electrode in the brain and it would  last essentially a lifetime."

Besides monitoring  organs and controlling prosthetics, the team believes the sensors could  also be used to keep an eye on tumors and even on the efficacy of cancer  therapies. They also think a version of the sensor could be developed  to stimulate nerves and muscles or even to treat disorders like  epilepsy. It would most likely take some time before they can develop  all these applications, though. They've already (successfully) tested  the current version on lab rats, but they still have to figure out how  to achieve their 50-micron target size.                 

  Via:         PopSci           Source:                 University of California, Berkeley, Neuron

ps. cheetah definition: a nerd bot made by some 3rd party government agency or people who believe in conspiracy theories etc. in fact you believe that with withhold the power of speech and free internet information you can pimp a profit, which you did not actually ... well done keep calm and hate close source aristocracy minds ... ohm and don’t forget to also vote your comment with your second profiles you going to earn more harass power to trade after