title: [The Six Million Dollar Man: from fiction to reality].
abstract: The term 'bionic' has been in existence since 1958, but only gained general recognition from the television series 'The Six Million Dollar Man'. Following a crash, the central figure in this series - test pilot Steve Austin - has an eye, an arm and both legs replaced by prostheses which make him stronger and faster than a normal person. This story is based on the science fiction book 'Cyborg' by Martin Caidin. In the world of comic books and films there are a number of examples of people who are given superhuman powers by having technological gadgets built in. Although the latter is not yet possible, the bionic human has now become reality.
authors.affiliation: Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, Amsterdam.
authors.forename: C H Kees
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Langeveld
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001701:Bionics; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D019736:Prostheses and Implants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*