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Would it be possible in a sci-fi near-future to transplant a new, lab-grown vertebral column, using something like this?
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Yeah, as far as I understand, it can act like a bridge between two ends of a severed nerve.
Give me a pair of bridges and a conductor to make the nerve signals travel at electric current speeds and I’ll give you almost instantaneous reflexes.
Knowing someone with a spinal injury I can tell you that these constant innovations that won't reach the market for 20 years are kind of continuously devastating.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Give me a pair of bridges and a conductor to make the nerve signals travel at electric current speeds and I’ll give you almost instantaneous reflexes.
I wonder if you could multiplex the signals from a bunch of nerves and send them over an Ethernet link.
I don't see why it's fundamentally impossible?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, as far as I understand, it can act like a bridge between two ends of a severed nerve.
Give me a pair of bridges and a conductor to make the nerve signals travel at electric current speeds and I’ll give you almost instantaneous reflexes.
This is almost probably not what you want. Your nerves respond pretty quickly already and you can do things faster than you can think about them (e.g. catching a ball) so there's more to the computation than the "CPU".
I have read that the myelin sheath on your nerves is thicker at birth then as an adult. The theory (not mine!) is that as it thins the capacitance goes down and perhaps this helps keep the transmission time more constant as yu grow, so that what you have learned about walking, catching a ball, drinking hot coffee from a cup continues to work. Imperfectly -- kids are clumsy -- but enough that you can quickly adapt and not have to keep learning all over again.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if you could multiplex the signals from a bunch of nerves and send them over an Ethernet link.
A radio link would simplify this enormously. You could link nerves "wirelessly"from a leg to near the brain without any surgery in between. I don't see why it's fundamentally impossible?
Unless you had a tinfoil hat (well, suit).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if you could multiplex the signals from a bunch of nerves and send them over an Ethernet link.
A radio link would simplify this enormously. You could link nerves "wirelessly"from a leg to near the brain without any surgery in between. I don't see why it's fundamentally impossible?
> To establish this digital bridge, we integrated two fully implanted systems that enable recording of cortical activity and stimulation of the lumbosacral spinal cord wirelessly and in real time (Fig. 1a).
I'm not a medical person, can anyone who knows more than me explain exactly how cool this is? Fixing spinal cords, or just repairing simple nerve severance?
Even small nerve injuries can be life changing. Friend my motor cycle rat friends hit a bridge abutment. Severed the nerves in his right shoulder. He has no feeling in and cannot move his arm. So being able to fix that would be a big deal for people affected.