Bioinspired Devices

Emulating Nature’s Assembly and Repair Process

Eugene C. Goldfield

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Hardback

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English

Harvard University Press
08 January 2018

Biomedical engineering; Biotechnology

Robotic exoskeletons that allow stroke survivors to regain use of their limbs, 3D-printed replacement body parts, and dozens of other innovations still in schematic design are revolutionizing the treatment of debilitating injuries and nervous system disorders. What all these technologies have in common is that they are modeled after engineering strategies found in nature-strategies developed by a vast array of organisms over eons of evolutionary trial and error.

Eugene Goldfield lays out many principles of engineering found in the natural world, with a focus on how evolutionary and developmental adaptations, such as sensory organs and spinal cords, function within complex organisms. He shows how the component parts of highly coordinated structures organize themselves into autonomous functional systems. For example, when people walk, spinal cord neurons generate coordinated signals that continuously reorganize patterns of muscle activations during the gait cycle. This self-organizing capacity is just one of many qualities that allow biological systems to be robust, adaptive, anticipatory, and self-repairing. To exploit the full potential of technologies designed to interact seamlessly with human bodies, properties like these must be better understood and harnessed at every level, from molecules to cells to organ systems.

Bioinspired Devices brings together insights from a wide range of fields. A member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Goldfield offers an insider's view of cutting-edge research, and envisions a future in which synthetic and biological devices share energy sources and control, blurring the boundary between nature and medicine.

By: Eugene C. Goldfield
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 970g
ISBN: 9780674967946
ISBN 10: 0674967941
Pages: 480
Publication Date: 08 January 2018
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Eugene C. Goldfield is Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Associate Faculty at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

Reviews for Bioinspired Devices: Emulating Nature’s Assembly and Repair Process

Bioinspired Devices takes us on a fascinating journey between nature and engineering. Goldfield extracts key principles for how living systems grow and function and proposes that they be applied to the design of better machines and prostheses. Combining an incredibly rich set of observations from neuroscience, bioengineering, biomechanics, ecology, and more, this book is a stimulating read for anyone interested in living systems and the construction of biologically-inspired devices.--Auke Ijspeert, Full Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne Bioinspired Devices: Emulating Nature's Assembly and Repair Process is a reliquary of nature's wonders, exploring how cells, organisms, and living systems form and function. Goldfield explains how new insights about these natural building processes are now being leveraged to create 'biologically inspired' engineering innovations, from medical devices to robot swarms. After reading this book, you will look at the world in an entirely new way.--Donald E. Ingber, Founding Director, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University