10 Body Parts That Can Be Replaced Now

Humans are indeed fragile creatures. Most of their organs lack the ability to regenerate themselves. Imagine if we are able to somehow attain that attribute of regenerating organs, we can do wonders in the field of medicine. We can literally change the lives of many disabled people. Scientists have already been working on this concept of regenerating organs for a long while now. Check out these 10 body parts that can be completely replaced now, thanks to engineering and medicine.

10-Ultra-Sensitive Electronic Skin

Skin is the largest organ of human body. It directly protects us from the micro-organisms and forms the first line of our body’s defence. It is normally the first organ that suffers damage in case of trauma to the body. Stanford’s Zhenan Baohas  has been working on the concept of synthetic skin and has succeeded with the formation of an ultra-sensitive material that can be used instead of flaps and grafts to cover a damaged skin area. It possesses a layer of elastic, which makes it possible to stretch. It has transistors and elastic solar cells which help it to maintain its form and function properly.

9- Beating Hearts Created In A Petri Dish

 Scientists have been working on stem cells in order to produce heart cells for quite some time now. They finally had a breakthrough this year when they were able to produce a heart tissue, which had its intrinsic ability to beat on its own. The team of scientists from The University of Pittsburgh used stems cells from the skin as primary precursor cells to form this tissue.

8- Prosthetic Hands With The Ability To Sense Touch

Many of you must be knowing about artificial prosthetic hands available in market now. They have the ability to grasp objects, but they lack the ability to sense things by touch. Scientists from the University of Chicago have come up with the solution to this problem. They have made hands that can send electrical signals to the brain and give the feeling of touch. They have used monkeys as test subjects and the results were pretty good. This new technology will soon be available in artificial prosthetic hands.

7-  Bionic Legs Controlled By Thought Process

Bionic legs commonly used by amputees have a drawback that they lack nerve connections with the body. This makes it really tough for the amputees to get on with them. Scientists have now been able to develop legs that are controlled by thoughts from the brain.  Zac Vawter from America became the first person to have installed this bionic leg that could read the signals from the brain and move accordingly.

6-Tiny Human Brains

Scientists in Austria have been able to create brains similar  to those in nine-week-old fetuses. These tiny brains are as small as the size of a pea. They lack the ability to think for now. The thing that is becoming a hurdle in the way of these brains from growing big is the absence of blood supply. You must be wondering what would be their use if they can’t think. Well, these mini brains will help scientists study brain diseases.
5- 3-D Printed Ears

The big visible flaps forming the outer ear are called pinnae. These contain cartilage as their main constituent. Scientists have come up with an idea of printing ears with the aid of a 3D printer. They have used the cells of rats and cows, which are capable of producing collagen. They have to be placed in a mold of human ear made by 3D printer. It merely takes less than hour to create such an ear.

4- Nose With The Sense Of Smelling Diseases

Scientists from the University of Illinois have been working on making an artificial nose that recognizes bacteria from their smells and diagnoses particular diseases. The result doesn’t really resemble the nose much when it comes to shape, but it smells the bacteria and its dots change the color in order to identify them.

3-Artificial Pancreas

The pancreas serves the purpose of producing insulin in the body. One can ask about its importance from a diabetic, who has to take care of his blood sugar levels by taking insulin exogenously. Artificial insulin makes the life of a diabetic much easier as it automatically pumps insulin into the blood. The device is more like an insulin pump, but with the additional feature of regulating your blood sugar and insulin levels throughout the day. It is capable of adjusting  automatically to the blood glucose levels.

2-Artificial Eyes

When people lose their sight, the signals between the photoreceptors and the brain are lost. Retina inside the eye is responsible for processing this information from photoreceptors to the brain. The function of the retina no longer remains. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have  built artificial retinas possessing chips that are able to convert electronic signals into light. They have experimented successfully on the mice. The sight of mice was restored.
1- Fingers That Store Digital Files
Finnish programmer Jalava created a prosthetic finger that possesses 2 GB digital storage. This finger can be directly jacked into the computer. The whole finger can be removed from the hand. He wants to move one step ahead and wireless support. So, basically this finger functions as a flash drive that can be removed at will.