SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
research at Arizona State University. “The technology’s drawback is that I can do something really cool on the lab bench, but if I took that device and strapped it to someone and sent them home, it wouldn’t last more than two minutes.”
PAYING THE BILL Perhaps the most challenging
barrier to the widespread adoption of biomechatronic prostheses is the technology’s sky-high cost. The BiOM T2, for example, is
priced at well over $50,000. “Much of this technology is not cheap at the moment because it requires surgery and implantation and a lot of care to put these systems in,” Weir says. “The devices themselves have a small market.” Insurers, meanwhile, have yet
to fi gure out which biomechatronic technologies they will cover and exactly who will be eligible to receive the devices. “A lot of this technology is
advancing so fast that the insurance
companies don’t yet have codes for them,” Santos says. Since the biomechatronic
prosthesis market is currently limited to the small number of individuals who can aff ord to pay for the technology out of their own pockets, only a limited number of systems will likely be sold during the next few years. “Until they can be insured it will
be hard to get companies to want to mass produce these things,” Santos says.
HELPING THE HEALTHY Despite the challenges,
most researchers believe that biomechatronic systems in the form of replacement limbs as well as wearable devices designed to enhance the performance of healthy arms and legs, is an important new technology. Possible future nonmedical users
range from warehouse workers with augmented arms that can aid lifting and carrying boxes weighing hundreds of pounds to soldiers with
LENDING A HAND Veronica Santos at the UCLA biomechatronics laboratory.
robot-assisted legs racing across miles of rugged terrain. Collins, like many other
researchers, believes the technology will eventually weave its way into everyday life. “If we make the benefi ts great enough, in 10 or 20 years people will use them recreationally, perhaps just to make it easier to walk an extra few blocks,” he predicts.
BIOM T2
BIOM T2 IN ACTION The new generation prosthetic weighs in at just 5 pounds, and really goes the distance.
68 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | MARCH 2015
SANTOS/ASU MAGAZINE AND DAN VERMILLION OF VERMILLION STUDIO BIOM T2 SYSTEM/JIMMY DEVARIE/BIOM PERSONAL BIONICS
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