It was once the stuff of science fiction.
But if Rock Lim has his way, a concept that was once the subject of an episode of “Star Trek” may be a reality.
Lim, who is studying under Utah State University professor Kerry Jordan, wants to create prosthetic limbs that have the ability to feel.
Lim is currently preparing a research proposal to test the capabilities of artificial neurons implanted in prosthetic hands. Researchers have yet to find a way to keep neurons alive in mechanical limbs because they need blood and neuralgia that the body has but the prosthesis doesn’t, Lim said.
“At the moment the level of robotics is not very high,” Lim said. “The fact that we have smart phones and automated machines but if you lose a hand, well, that’s OK, here’s a hook — it’s simply archaic. We’re using the same technology we had 600 years ago.”
“Once we get this technology we’ll not only be able to fix but enhance and make the human body better,” Lim said. “But in order to do that we first need to make mechanical limbs feel.”
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Lim came to the United States in the name of science: He moved to
Utah at the age of three when his father, Seung-Jin Lim, was accepted into the computer engineering graduate program at Brigham Young University.
Two decades and three grown sons later, Seung-Jim Lim is near completion of a computer interphase program that allows public servants such as police officers and firefighters to access incident information quickly and easily. It has the potential to “save lives due to quicker response time,” he said.
Rock Lim is responsible for proofreading his father’s scholarly journal articles, something he calls long and sometimes boring.
But researching has only become a recent passion of Lim’s.
“As a child I had no interest,” he said. “But a few years ago I got attracted to the idea that science can change peoples’ lives.”
A team of scientists from Sandia National Laboratories, the University of New Mexico and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston have already created an artificial limb that creates quasi-real sensations using electrical transmitters embedded in the limbs interface. What Lim is proposing is the use of real neurons to create real feeling, making a prosthetic a true extension of the body.
“There already is research where your neurotransmitters in your body are connected to a machine and a guy was able to move a robotic hand using just his mind,” Lim said. “We can regrow damaged nerves, we can grow axons where there wasn’t before. So the idea is to now grow artificial neurons in the hands and get them to talk to neurons already in the body that are already there.”
Until Lim can go to a graduate school with the necessary medical equipment to start testing his proposal, he’s doing what he can to build up lab experience and a résumé. Lim and graduate student Justice Morath are studying restorative attention effect of natural scenes in children under Jordan’s direction in the Department of Psychology.
Lim plans on graduating next year and is undecided on where he will study next: California, Washington, Canada and Sweden are among the places on his short-list, “but my dad wants me to stay in the U.S.,” Lim said.
Wherever it may be, Lim is not concerned about the prestige of a renowned graduate school.
“Although a degree from Harvard would be nice,” he said. “I need to go to the university with the professors doing the most relevant research.”
David Thomas, Brie Geller, Mackinzie Hamilton, Marissa Shields, Ashley Howell and Danielle Manley contributed to this report.
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