44 Biomedical and Biomechanical Technology

Rapid advances in assistive devices are an important domain of research and development across many fields, but increasingly in the bio-mechanical sciences.  Certain new technologies like gene editing and transhumanist technologies have some incredible current and potential applications.  But in other ways, these technologies are fraught, especially from the perspective of the disability community.  Gene editing, if not guided by strong ethical frameworks and regulations, could develop to become a modern version of eugenics – i.e. having the a priori ability to rank and select embryos that successfully have been edited fit for purpose.  Over time, without strong international regulation and enforcement, a genetic caste system could emerge.  As the co-discoverer of CRISPR, Jennifer Doudna, herself warns: “The power to control our species’ genetic future is awesome and terrifying. Deciding how to handle it may be the biggest challenge we have ever faced.”^[1] These concerns notwithstanding, there are many promising potential advanced technological innovations that hold enormous potential; Far too many to recount in these pages.

Last year’s iteration of the annual Environmental Scan, The Age of Rage, produced by the Institute for Community Prosperity in partnership with the Calgary Foundation described brain-computer interface technologies (BCIs), essentially mind-machine melds. We are now seeing applications of BCIs being tested: “More recent advances brain-computer interfaces, neuro-prosthetics, subcutaneous micro-electrode arrays, and other bio-technology, while potentially liberating for people with brain injuries or cognitive disabilities, also offer possibilities for early-stage integration of our biology with the metaverse; Texas start-up Paradromics’ implantable BCis use platinum-iridium [microwires] placed under the skull and on the surface of the brain to interface with neurons. These advances signal a kind of proto-“cyborgification”, where humans – in a sense – “transcend” our bodily frame.”^[2]

BCIs have the potential to revolutionize how people with disabilities interact with technology and the world around them. People with mobility impairments could use BCIs to control prosthetic limbs, while people with communication disabilities could use BCIs to speak through computers.  As one example, a device called Epoc-X, currently being tested in Toronto, converts brainwave intention patterns of those living with cerebral palsy (and potentially anyone with comparable verbal and physical communication barriers) into actionable commands that a computer can execute.^[3]