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The Enhanced Body

In Focus

The Enhanced Body

From glasses and hearing aids to responsive prosthetics and 3D-printed organs, assistive body augmentations have changed the way we live.

Last updated: November 2024

Everyday enhancements

Whether because of genetics, aging, or accident, many people will require minor enhancements to improve their quality of life.

Some of our parts

From myoelectric prosthetics to metamaterial lenses, Harvard researchers have been at the forefront of prosthetics and mechanical assistance.


Being in India and working with the patient population there reinforced for me the need for that kind of work.”

Aashna Shah and Alex Boyle

The Harvard Chan School alums helped a prosthetics nonprofit in Jaipur, India, improve its patient feedback process while learning valuable lessons for their own public health careers.

Aashna Shah and Alex Boyle
Learn more about Linh's journey
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3D-printed bone substitutes

Faced with a failed bone graft, Linh Nam connected with a Radcliffe Fellow whose work could revolutionize the science of bone replacement.

Explore the research

Explore the dissertation
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Wearable robots for stroke survivors

Harvard alum Krithika Swaminathan aims to help stroke survivors through soft wearable robots that enable patients to retrain their limbs and improve their gait.

Learn more about this project

Organs outside organisms

Harvard researchers are exploring artificial organs to help with the worldwide organ shortage and to better understand diseases and treatments without risking lives.

Leonardo DiVinci's man drawing, but with organ chips around him

The human body on a chip

Human organ chips, pioneered at the Wyss Institute in 2010, are small devices where organ-specific cells are cultured to test their reaction to molecules like cytokines, growth factors, drugs, and drug-breakdown products.

The human body on a chip

Growing lymph nodes to treat cancer

A hand holding a clear plastic chip
Growing lymph nodes to treat cancer

Mimicking the structure and action of the heart

A hand holding an artificial heart
Mimicking the structure and action of the heart

Repairing organs with patients' own cells

3d printed blood vessels
Repairing organs with patients' own cells

Developing better treatments for cervical diseases

An anatomical model of a woman's reproductive system.
Developing better treatments for cervical diseases

Finding more easily injectable drugs

An illustration of an injection into skin

Folding tissues to better function like a kidney

An illustration of an artificial kidney
Folding tissues to better function like a kidney