The bionic body shop: Discussing the many life sustaining devices that can be implanted in the body

In medicine, there is a quiet revolution going on in which implanted devices are being used to make up for lost function. For about a century it has been known that metal pins (to stabilize broken bones), could be implanted and accepted by the body. However, it is only since the development of the cardiac pacemaker in the early 1960s, that complex electronic devices could be implanted and function for a decade or more. New materials, new components and new surgical techniques offer the promise of implanting devices that will provide function that improves the quality of life — and even sustains it.