It's about that time again: The time where my back is in knots and I'm really in pain because of it.

Last night I happened to stumble across the website of a surgical clinic that handles this sort of injury. The procedure for this sort of injury seems pretty straight-forward, but it is unsettling.

It would require an incision in my chest, the deflation of a lung, screws and rods, re-inflation, some staples, painkillers, and a rigid brace for 4 months. All this to treat a fracture like the one in figure A1.

I imagine it'll be a bit different considering this is a 10-year-old injury, but who knows!

I may be throwing away my million dollar idea here, but I need to share it and get some feedback.

Having arthritis and limited motion in my hands, I've wondered if there would be any sort of external prosthetic assist that may help out. Then one day, I saw an article somewhere about a revolutionary helicopter design that used piezoelectric fibers to twist and bend the rotor blades. After pondering it for a little bit, I wondered if it would be able to make some sort of thin and lightweight gloves, using some sort of sensors and microcontrollers to determine what movements were attempted, then make use of specially placed highly flexible piezoelectric fibers to provide assist on the the appendage needing the assist.

Now, what if such a thing could be expanded to something less complicated? What about people who have trouble moving their leg, due to muscle and nerve damage? Could a non-surgical product be developed in the form of say, tight pants, to apply this concept to help that person walk again?