Older readers of this chapter might remember the American TV series“The Bionic Woman”, aired in the late 1970s by NBC and ABC.The main character is nearly killed in a sky-diving accident only to berescued and receive various surgical implants. As the result of theimplanted bionics, she receives amplified hearing in her right ear, agreatly strengthened right arm, and stronger and enhanced legs that enableher to run at speeds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour. Who would not wantto have super-human capabilities like these?

Forty years later, bionics has still not delivered on this promise, but atthe same time the technological achievements have been amazing. Most of ushave watched Oscar Pistorius as the first double leg amputee to participatein the summer Olympics in 2012. He nearly won a medal. Some able-bodiedathletes are now arguing that prostheses should be banned in regularcompetition as it offers unfair advantage.

Prosthetic legs are the simplest example, as they are “merely” a mechanicalproduct. Much more complex devices with sophisticated electronics and signalprocessing have been developed to restore vision and contact brain tissuedirectly. One can envision that one day it will be possible to implant manybionic devices to restore, control or enhance many bodily functions, evenproviding direct connection to medical services through our personalcommunication systems (Figure 22.1); see [1] for some examples.