Seven-year-old Jericho Rajninger of Larkspur was diagnosed with leukemia in 2003. Because of the unpleasant task of ingesting more than 4,000 pills during his chemotherapy treatment, Jericho came up with an idea to help himself and other children like him better cope with taking all these meds and make it fun, if not at the very least, more pleasant.

The Robot, named after Jericho’s initials - “J.R. Railroad” was designed to resemble the storybook “Little Engine That Could.” The robot will deliver medication to children being treated for cancer.

“When I was little, I had leukemia. It was horrible,” Jericho wrote in his wish to the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation. “I wished there could be a robot that could bring kids medicine in the hospital so they would smile, instead of a nurse coming in with a tray.”

We helped Make-A-Wish with a little networking with this project, and found that the TUG by Aethon with a little modification would be the perfect candidate for this, because the TUG is already designed to shuttle around meds, food and equipment. Make-A-Wish contacted Aethon and not only did Aethon agree that the TUG would be the best for the job, but also donated the $105,000 robot:

The train built around the industrial looking robot was designed by San-Francisco based Gensler Architects. Oh yeah, and the conductor in the robot outfitted by The Gap, it does have a voice, not only a voice, but The Voice, Don LaFontaine.

According to his physician, Dr. Michelle Hermiston of Corte Madera, currently, Jericho is in remission and doing well.

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We have all heard of the artificial heart, but have you heard of all these other artificial parts being worked on? Science Ahead has a great article about all the new technology in this field. Matrix, here we come.

• Artificial Wombs
• Artificial gut
• Artificial Heart
• Artificial blood
• Artificial blood vessels
• Artificial bones
• Artificial Skin
• Artificial Retina
• Artificial limbs
• Artificial body parts from Stem cells

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Science Daily — Some 40 years after the release of the classic science fiction movie Fantastic Voyage, researchers in the NanoRobotics Laboratory of École Polytechnique de Montréal’s Department of Computer Engineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering have achieved a major technological breakthrough in the field of medical robotics. They have succeeded for the first time in guiding, in vivo and via computer control, a microdevice inside an artery, at a speed of 10 centimetres a second.

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Perhaps one of the most innovative developments is the introduction of the da Vinci robotic surgery system which enables a skilled surgeon to operate in a minimally invasive manner. Simply put, minimally invasive means that the less traumatic the incision required to complete the surgery, the better the outcome will be for the patient. The patient is subjected to a much shorter hospital stay, less postoperative pain is experienced, bleeding is minimized, scarring is reduced and much quicker healing is fostered. This translates into significant benefits for the patient and enables a much quicker return to the normal activities of life.

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Thought-controlled robotic limbs were only the beginning.

hand.jpgScientists have had a string of remarkable successes lately, taking signals from the brains of monkeys and men, and using them to move mechanical arms.

Darpa, the Pentagon’s blue-sky research division, now wants to ratchet that work up about ten notches, by developing a “neurally controlled artificial limb that will restore full motor and sensory capability to upper extremity amputee patients. This revolutionary prosthesis will be controlled, feel, look and perform like the native limb.”

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Science Daily — A robotic therapy device may help people regain strength and normal use of affected hands long after a stroke, according to a University of California, Irvine study.

Stroke patients with impaired hand use reported improved ability to grasp and release objects after therapy sessions using the Hand-Wrist Assisting Robotic Device (HOWARD).

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