Cyberbodies: The New Way of Life
Medicine has been evolving since it first started to be practiced. Technology has become such an impactful part of our daily lives that people almost become dependent on it. The connect that medicine and technology has made is beyond extraordinary. New technology comes around every day, it is only a matter of time before it is incorporated into the medical field. In this paper I will be exploring the ideas of technology in medicine, how those ideas came to be, and how they have evolved so far.
According to a journal from Italian authors Andrea Gaggioli, Marco Vettorello, and Giuseppe Riva, since the beginning of the evolution of the cyborg in the 1950s and 1960s, artificial hip joints and artificial hearts were developed (Blanchard, 1995). These types of progresses in medicine and bionics engineering made it possible to discover electrical signals in nerve impulses and made the use of motor-controlled body parts to be used as prosthetics. This initiated the era of implants. This triggered researchers around the world to look for ways to improve bionic devices to improve the quality of life for disabled individuals. Since then, the release of pacemakers, cochlear implants, implantable pumps, and neuroimplants were available to those who needed them.
Some advances that are notable as well are the imagining systems known as ultrasound, computerized tomography (CT or PET scanners), nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the use of endoscopic surgery. These systems have made it possible to view the body in a new way and preform surgeries, like transplants, in a whole new way. An argument used by post humanists stated in the same journal is, that they argue for a model of identity that is dramatically altered withing technological cultures. In this sense I don’t really understand what they mean by this, but when reading on it does state that in western industrialized societies, they are experiencing new phases of humanity “wherein no essential differences between bodily existence and computer simulation, cybernetic mechanism and biological organism, robot teleology and human goals exist (…). Embodiment is seen as an accident of history and consciousness is an evolutionary newcomer” (Hayles, 19999b). After reading that part, it almost makes sense to me of what the argument is. It seems that post humanists see this type of medicine to be altering greatly with technology and instead they would rather medicine not be because they do not see it to be essential to add such technology.
The total endpoint, according to this journal, of the cyberbody will be the virtualization of the body. This will be the digitalization of all the body’s tissues and structures of interest. The main goal of this is to make it function like the current 3-D and 4-D imagining systems used today, examples are MRIs and CTs or PETs scans. Those working on the project have successfully captured real human bodies in 3-D, living color through the use of MRI and CT scans, as well as cadavers during dissection with high-resolution digital color photography. This virtualization of the body will be used for more than just surgical use, there is talk about it being used for psychological therapy as well. Virtual reality has already proved to be a therapeutic tool for mental and physical disabilities. The use will be like a normal virtual reality game, but without the constraints normally seen while playing, the player will have a high level of controls which will have a positive experience.
In the journal, there is more talk about something that could help see the blind see, a biomedical shirt that could help those who suffer with chronic diseases (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory and neurological disorders) and the elderly with any specific needs they may have. The use of this type of technology in medicine seems as if it would be very controversial in the beginning, and possibly until it is full proof enough to show the results promised. The idea of the cyberbody relates to political ecology in the sense that the technology that is produced and constantly being updated over the years is helping the greater good over a long period of time. This isn’t a one-time fix that will solve a problem for one time and then scientists or doctors will need a new solution when this fails. This is an ongoing study and there are new findings every day that help more and more people with different types of illnesses and disabilities. Personally, when I first thought of this, I immediately thought of how amputees basically get a mechanical limb to replace the one that they were born without or that they sadly had to get removed. A few big ones I thought about are pacemakers and insulin pumps. Without those, people with irregular heartbeats wouldn’t be able to live a regular life and simply live-in fear about their heart giving out if they put too much pressure on it. For those with insulin pumps, they would have to give themselves insulin, and sometimes you don’t know until it’s simply too late and you pass out or your body goes into shock from the imbalance. These technological advances in medicine are allowing those who thought they wouldn’t be able to live a regular life again, live their best and happiest life.
In conclusion, cyberbodies are everywhere we look, even if we can’t always see them. Medicine has been evolving since it has first been practiced, and it will continue to evolve even when we think things couldn’t get better. New technological advances come around every day, it is only a matter of time until we find a way to incorporate it into the medical field. In this paper I talked about the ideas of technology in the medical field, how those ideas came to be and how they have evolved in today’s society. To ensure the best possible quality of life for someone who is living with a disability or illness, a type of cyberbody is used to help them achieve it.
Citation:
Gaggioli, Andrea, et al. From Cyborgs to Cyberbodies: The Evolution of the Concept of Techno- Body in Modern Medicine, vol. 1, no. 2, 2003, pp. 75–86.