App Snaps Nov 1, 2006 By: Stephanie vL Henkel

Having a bad back is no fun, and the corrective measures can be just as unpleasant. So Disc Dynamics, Devicix, and MTS Sensors Div. got together to devise a minimally invasive way to treat degenerative disc disease. The result is the Dascor Disc Arthroplasty System, in which the nucleus of a spinal disc is removed and replaced with an artificial nucleus that restores the correct gap height between the vertebrae.

The current conflict in Iraq is proving to be a war of amputations. If it's any consolation, an extremely well engineered prosthetic, the Boston Digital Arm (BDA), promises to reproduce much of a lost limb's functionality. The BDA's operating principle has been well demonstrated—the user's remaining muscles and nerves activate the device and control its movements. This arm goes beyond conventional prosthetics, though, by having five axes of motion as well as a variable gripping force in the hand that gives the user the ability to "sense" a held object.