• Question: would it be possible to get a arm made of bio materials in the future

    Asked by anon-220259 on 12 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Rebecca Moon

      Rebecca Moon answered on 12 Jun 2019:


      An arm contains many different tissue types (bone, muscles/ligaments/tendons, cartilage, blood vessels, subcutaneous fat, skin, nerves to name a few) and the mechanics of the whole arm is pretty complex as it contains multiple joints (shoulder, elbow, wrist, joints within the hands) and is served by several different major nerves. So whilst I think bioengineering is fascinating, I think its probably still in relative infancy to be able to create a whole limb yet, but I’ve no doubt that long term itll be possible, the science just needs to keep evolving!

    • Photo: Kaitlin Wade

      Kaitlin Wade answered on 12 Jun 2019:


      I’m not sure the term “bio materials” means in the question but I imagine it’ll be possible to make prosthetic limbs out of pretty much anything including biological materials and robotic materials in the future! It depends on how far in the future you want to go…!

    • Photo: Matthew Bareford

      Matthew Bareford answered on 13 Jun 2019:


      So, Bio-materials in this instance i think your talking about functional robotic arms controlled by the person (and possibly covered in the persons skin?)

      The robotics part and controlled by the person is already a reality!

      The human skin idea would need a lot more advancement to make it look natural… particularly as you’d need the skin to have a blood flow to it!

    • Photo: Nina Rzechorzek

      Nina Rzechorzek answered on 14 Jun 2019:


      Anything is possible and there is a lot of research investment in this area so I believe this is achievable in my lifetime.

    • Photo: Kate Timms

      Kate Timms answered on 17 Jun 2019:


      Probably. The best part about thinking about the future is that we have no idea what will happen or how science will develop. Pretty much anything is possible, given enough funding and time.

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