BIONICS: A lot Like Life

BION-IC (Life-Like) literally means imitating the nature.

Science and Engineering have been the two most fascinating fields known to the humankind
since ages and when these two fields come together, they create Bionics.

Bionics is technically defined as the application of biological methods and systems found in
nature to the designing and engineering of systems and modern technology. It is basically the
flow of concepts from Biology to engineering. Imagine conceptualizing an Information System
for a hospital based on the mechanism seen in the nervous system of a butterfly. Seems
impossible? Well, with the Bionics the impossible becomes possible.
Bionics also includes inventing new innovative structures which can mimic the damaged natural
body organs or parts. By using a similar technology, we can increase the chances of
acceptance by human body. The development in the field has reached to a level where they can
incorporate electronics and pneumatic mechanisms of considerable complexity into the Modern
prosthetic limbs often giving the feel of a real limb. Imagine how easy it would be for a person
with no legs to accept an artificial limb that looks and functions like an original one.

Few examples of body parts and the biomaterials and biomedical devices that can be used to
replace damaged or diseased body parts are as follows:
1.

Artificial Joints: Artificial hip joints are made from materials like stainless steel-polyethylene or
cobalt-chromium alloy-polyethylene combination.

2.

Pacemakers: A pacemaker is a battery-operated device intended to stimulate contraction of

the heart at a certain rate.

3.

Crowns and Dentures: Recent developments have led to innovations of metal-ceramic

crowns and have led to an increase in strength of these structures. Dentures (false teeth) are
generally made from acrylic for ease of fabrication.

4.

Cochlear Implants: It is an artificial device that can replace a damaged ear and help in
hearing. It is designed to stimulate nerves inside the inner ear, thus producing a hearing
sensation. The technology involves converting sound into electrical impulses, which can be
used to stimulate the auditory nerves, sending a signal to the brain, which finally creates a
hearing sensation.

5.

The iron lung: Artificial lungs are not a new development. The history can be traced to 1940s
where the iron lung was used in treating polio.
Bionics can prove to be a life changing technology for a lot of people and with more and more
development happening in the field with each passing day, the field can prove to be of a real
help to the healthcare industry.
-Ms. Ginny Kaushal,
Faculty, INLEAD