Cyborg Technology in Bio Engineering: Enabling Technologies, Implications, Applications and Future Trends

Medical technology has made notable progress in recent decades with the assistance of engineering and information and communication technology. With the aid of miniaturized electronic devices with intelligence and communication capabilities can be used to monitor patients and older people remotely and streamline all the healthcare services required in times of need with minimum human interventions. The advances made in the field of microelectronics have enabled us to manufacture devices that are small enough to be embedded within the human body. When a human being is fitted with a device for the purpose of assisting an underperforming organ or to enhance some biological function, he is known as a cyborg. Cyborg is a portmanteau of two words cybernetics and organism where a biological organism is embedded (or fitted) with some machine elements for the purpose of enhancing some of its biological functions. In this article, the authors take a critical look at cyborgs from different angles with the view of understanding the implications of this technology at individual and social levels along with giving their own interpretations and comments. As this article looks at cyborg technology from multiple directions, it will be a useful reference for anybody who is willing to embark on this fascinating research area.