Bionic Leg Is Controlled by Brain Power

Gabby Henry

Period 1

Bionic Leg is Controlled by Brain Power

1. Give a brief (one paragraph) summary of the article.

        This article is about a team of specialists that have designed a bionic prosthetic leg that can be controlled by communicating with the brain of the person wearing it. In this article, one man, Zac Vawter, is the first to test a prosthetic leg that has been fitted with the help of a computer and some electrodes, which allows him to control it with his thoughts. The process works by connecting the prosthetic leg to a group of nerves that are left above his missing knee. Before Vawter could fully gain control of his leg, engineers had to spend countless hours with him to train and program the leg to correspond with Vawter’s thoughts. A few months later after lots of training and close observation, Vawter drastically improved and now has the ability to move a lot faster and reduce the amount of falls, discomfort, and unnatural movements that usually come with a prosthetic leg by about 44%.

2. Please state the controversy regarding this article.

        The controversy regarding this article deals with money. In order to research and produce this miracle, it took 8-million dollars. Some people say this is too much and especially with our economy right now, we should not be spending our money on this kind of stuff. Although this would help millions of people who have lost a lower limb regain full control of their bodies again, many do not believe that it is the right time due to America’s debts.

3. What is your opinion pertaining to the article? Is the subject ethical or should scientists be performing the act?

        In my opinion, I believe this team of specialists are doing the right thing. They should continue their research so sometime in the near future, everybody who has lost a lower limb have the option to buy a prosthetic leg that they can feel comfortable with because now they have full control over it.  This is especially ethical because in the article, they state that the military has donated 8 million dollars to fund this research because they believe that the soldiers who have fought for our country and lost a lower limb deserve this and it would also help them live their lives to fullest, again. This would help many people around the world to fully function as normal as possible. I believe what these scientists are doing is great and they should continue doing what they do because it can help a lot of people restore their full capabilities.