Week 1: Can the Blind Really See?
Current prosthetic eyes for humans have electrodes that stimulate the retina’s output cells (called ganglion cells). These are often left intact even when the rest of the eye's hardware is destroyed by diseases that cause blindness. To restore normal sight, artificial eyes must incorporate a code that allows the retina to translate signals from photoreceptors into meaningful images.
Week 2: Who Owns Medical Implant Data?
The cardiac defibrillator inside the human body transmits data to its manufacturer, which alerts a patient’s physician of a problem with the heartbeat. Who has the right to own, control, and use the information collected by sensors in our bodies? For now, the ownership remains with the manufacturer.
Week 3: X-Rays and CT Scans: Useful but Carcinogenic?
Higher levels of X-ray exposure can increase the risk of mutation and cancer. What remains unknown is just what that level is. What is new about this data analysis, other than that it fits into the public policy perspectives around cost control?
Week 4: Peering into the Brain: Functional MRI
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) works by detecting changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in response to neural activity. It can be used to produce activation maps showing the parts of the brain involved in a particular mental process, and this tool is now routinely used in cognitive science research.
Week 5: Reverse Engineering the Brain
New computer algorithms exploit supercomputing architectures in order noninvasively to measure and map the connections between cortical and sub-cortical locations in the human body. Mapping the brain’s wiring diagram is crucial to untangling its vast communication network and understanding how it represents and processes information.
Week 6: Growing Human Organs
Scientists were able to grow a pituitary gland using embryonic stem cells for a mouse. Human skin cells have been directly converted into neurons, an achievement that could lead to the cell-based treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. Can this be the start of growing human organs?
