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Enhancing human physical capability

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MIT Media Lab

MIT Media Lab

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Post Research

Hugh Herr named to 2025 Forbes Accessibility 100 List

Professor Hugh Herr is among the top Forbes 100 innovators advancing accessibility.
Post Research

Samantha Gutierrez-Arango receives Fundación Mario Santo Domingo 2025 Fellowship

The awarded fellowship is for a nine-month period starting September 1, 2025.
Article Research

Brains, fashion, alien life, and more: Highlights from the Cambridge Science Festival

Organized by the MIT Museum, the 2024 celebration of science, technology, and culture was the largest in its history.
Article Research

Connecting to the healthcare of tomorrow

How life-saving wearables, regenerative medicine, and AI-assisted hospitals are helping empower patients and doctors.
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Bionic limbs can now feel 'real' thanks to new surgery

A new surgery maintains the sensation of limb control after an amputation.
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Work from the Biomechatronics group on the cover of MIT Science Policy Review

"Repairing the prosthetic science-policy rift: Challenges to improved access to and translation of prosthetic technologies," by Biomechatro…
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A Bionic Leg Controlled by the Brain

Hugh Herr pioneers brain-controlled prosthetics, merging tech and biology to restore mobility and enhance human potential beyond limits.
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Brain-controlled prosthetic limbs take steps closer to reality

In a cover story, Science News highlights research from the Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group and the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics at MIT
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Neurally Controlled Prosthesis in the News

News coverage of the neural control prosthetic from Biomechatronics group.
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Neural hand prosthesis control test

Watch: Tech Briefs Magazine features a video of Dave Burke working with Media Lab Biomechatronics researcher Michael Fernandez.
Article Research

A prosthesis driven by the nervous system helps people with amputation walk naturally

A new surgical procedure gives people more neural feedback from their residual limb. With it, seven patients walked more naturally
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MIT scientists learn how to control muscles with light

A new study suggests optogenetics can drive muscle contraction with greater control and less fatigue than electrical stimulation.
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Video Friday: Robot, make me coffee

For Video Friday, IEEE Spectrum highlights a clip of Media Lab Biomechatronics researcher Michael Fernandez working with Dave Burke.
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Samantha Gutierrez-Arango selected for 2024 MIT RISE Unsung Hero Award

Recipients of this award have shown commitment and passion for the community regardless of leadership position.
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Prelude to a new era of bionics

Through a paper in Nature Reviews Bioengineering, researchers delve into mechanoneural interfaces, a new paradigm for bionic integration.
Article Research

Solve Challenge Finals 2023: Action in service to the world

Alum David Sengeh, now Chief Minister for the Republic of Sierra Leone, joined others for a fireside chat at the MIT Solve Challenge Finals.
Post About

Connected Mind + Body: Improving Neural Control of Prostheses

The Media Lab is enhancing human physical capability and revolutionizing mental wellbeing using digital technologies and human-compute…
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David Sengeh named to 2023 TIME100 Next List

The recognition highlights his work at the Media Lab and his current position as chief minister of Sierra Leone.
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Guillermo Herrera-Arcos receives fellowships from K. Lisa Yang ICoN Center and Government of Mexico

Guillermo Herrera-Arcos from the Media Lab's Biomechatronics group has received two fellowships in support of his PhD.
Video Videos

Research Group Overview: Biomechatronics

Enhancing human physical capability.
Article Research

Third Thursdays Poetry from Brookline Booksmith: "Our Ancestors Did Not Breathe This Air"

Media Lab student Ayşe Guvenilir and MIT alumni Mariam Dogar and Maisha Munawwara Prome share work from their poetry anthology.
Article Research

One man's inspiring journey to lift his country out of poverty

Media Lab alum David Sengeh, now the Minister of Education for Sierra Leone, talks about efforts to transform their educational system.
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Inside two MIT students’ historic BattleBots runs

PhD students Lucy Du and Ginger Schmidt are crushing the competition — and gender barriers — in the world of televised robot combat.
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The six dimensions of caring for patients with disabilities: a journey from the US to Sierra Leone

The journey to equitable access to bionic technology in Sierra Leone.
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Celebrating Members of the Quarter Century Club!

The MIT Quarter-Century Club recognizes faculty members and members of staff who have served the Institute for 25 years or more.
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Congratulations to Lisa Freed on being inducted into MIT's Quarter-Century Club

Lisa Freed is a member of the 2023 class of inductees.
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Congratulations to everyone graduating in 2023!

We're so proud of everything you've accomplished here, and can't wait to see what you do next.
Article Research

Francesca Riccio-Ackerman Works to Improve Access to Prosthetics

PhD student is designing and building a sustainable care and delivery model in Sierra Leone
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Bionics Researchers Develop Technologies to Ease Pain and Transcend Human Limitations

Professor Hugh Herr and graduate student Christopher Shallal are working on next-generation biomimetic limbs.
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Paris Myers selected for National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP)

Paris Myers, an incoming graduate student in the Biomechatronics group, has been selected as a Fellow in the field of mechanical engineering
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Labbers Shriya Srinivasan and Irmandy Wicaksono featured in docuseries The Road to 2050

The Road to 2050, a six-part docuseries from The Franklin Institute, examines the ways that today's technology will shape the future.
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Media Labbers win 2023 MIT Excellence Awards

Three members of the Media Lab community have received 2023 MIT Excellence Awards: Lindsey Charles, Mahy El-Kouedi, and Benoit Desbiolles!
Video Videos

Magnetic Implants for Muscle Tracking

This new technology can provide natural, reliable control of prostheses, exoskeletons, and stimulated muscles.
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New collaboration aims to strengthen orthotic and prosthetic care in Sierra Leone

K Lisa Yang Center for Bionics and Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation aim to develop an integrative approach to strengthening
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Hugh Herr's new prosthetic tech uses magnets

Magnetomicrometry uses implantable magnets to track the position of muscles, potentially improving the control and efficacy of prosthetics.
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The Pacemaker: Magnetomicrometry for Prosthetic Control

Magnetomicrometry has exciting prospects for the control of wearable robotics, including prostheses and exoskeletons.
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Creating a sense of feeling

Biomedical engineer and dancer Shriya Srinivasan PhD ’20 explores connections between the human body and the outside world.
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Friction on TED Radio Hour

Lab alum David Moinina Sengeh and others speak on TED Radio Hour about friction in its many uses and forms.
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IAP 2023

An evolving list of IAP activities hosted by members of the Media Lab community in collaboration with other MIT departments this year.
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“Our Ancestors Did Not Breathe This Air”: On growing up Muslim in America

Six MIT students, including Biomechatronics student Ayse Guvenilir, share their thoughts on belonging, identity, love, and MIT itself.
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Brown, MIT researchers validate new methodology for wireless muscle tracking

Two research papers published by Brown and MIT researchers focus on the possibility of employing improved muscle tracking technology.
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Researchers Turn to Implantable Magnets to Provide High-Detail Muscle Movement Info for Robotics

Implantable without discomfort, these tiny magnets can provide continuous readings of muscle length for prosthetics and more.
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MIT researchers seek FDA approval to test new technology on people with prosthetic limbs

Researchers at MIT are seeking FDA approval to test new technology in people with prosthetic limbs, which could make them easier to control.
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Magnetic sensors track muscle length

Using a new technology, researchers hope to create better control systems for prosthetic limbs.
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Developing community around design

Meet the MIT Morningside Academy for Design’s inaugural fellows, including Pedro Reynolds-Cuéllar and Francesca Riccio-Ackerman.
Gallery Research

Prostheses for All: Sierra Leone Project

Footage of the Biomechatronics Group in their work collaborating to improve the orthotic and prosthetic sector of Sierra Leone.
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Breaking through the mucus barrier

A capsule that tunnels through mucus in the GI tract could be used to orally administer large protein drugs such as insulin.
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Summer at MIT Media Lab yields 'community of purpose'

The Panther network was instrumental in helping Lina Henriquez obtain and thrive in the MIT summer program.
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Why Are Prosthetics So Expensive? Researchers Are Working to Change That

"No one would ever expect people to build their own heart valves at home"-- Francesca Riccio-Ackerman on inequity in the prosthetic field.
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The future of treating aging

Francesca Riccio-Ackerman and co-authors consider advances in the treatment of conditions associated with aging.
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Promoting systemic change in the Middle East, the “MIT way”

In a recent MISTI course, students engaged on collaborative solutions to climate, health care, and economic development in the Middle East.
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Aashini Shah one of 13 MIT undergrads, graduate students, and alumni awarded Fulbright fellowships in 2022–23

Sponsored by the US Department of State, the Fulbright US Student Program offers grants in over 150 countries.
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Hugh Herr honored at Genius Gala 2022

On May 2, 2022, Hugh Herr (head of the Biomechatronics research group) will be honored at the 10th Genius Gala.
Video Videos

Conversations that Matter: The Importance of Education in the Amputee Experience (4/19/22)

Watch the recording of Conversations that Matter: The Importance of Education in the Amputee Experience, hosted by the Biomechatronics group
Article Research

Hugh Herr talks to the Boston Globe about the collaboration that led to a new amputation procedure

A team of Boston surgeons and scientists has developed a new approach to amputation.
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Virtual Event – ‘Augmented’: The future of brain-controlled prosthetic limbs

Alum Shriya Srinivasan, Dr. Matthew Carty, climber Jim Ewing, and others join STAT and Nova PBS for a conversation about the Augmented film.
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‘Augmented’ documentary charts what is gained from a reimagined amputation

Augmented is a Nova PBS documentary produced by STAT News, which follows the development of a new amputation procedure and bionic prostheses
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Augmented | Nova PBS episode featuring Hugh Herr

"Augmented" is a Nova PBS documentary episode that premiers Wednesday, 2/23, featuring Biomechatronics group head Hugh Herr.
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Hunting for the Next Moderna

Boston Magazine looks at 10 recent biomedical innovations created by local researchers, including the AMI procedure.
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Soft Robotics Podcast | Hugh Herr: "Bionics"

Biomechatronics group head Hugh Herr speaks with Marwa ElDiwiny on a recent episode of the IEEE RAS Soft Robotics podcast.
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Matthew Carty named Roberta and Stephen R. Weiner Distinguished Chair in Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital

Matthew Carty, a visiting scientist in the Biomechatronics group, has been named to this position at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
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Making her way through MIT

Graduate student Lucy Du designs novel prosthetics and seeks to inspire others to pursue engineering.
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Congratulations to the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees

The 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 list honors "bold risk-takers putting a new twist on the old tools of the trade" + includes a few Media Labbers.