Free Essay

Prosthetics Future

In:

Submitted By Ashleyjschick
Words 1757
Pages 8
First off, I’d like to define prosthetics; some individuals may see prosthetics as simply a replacement for a limb, but the definition is slightly more complicated than that. “A Prosthesis can be any device designed to replace part of the body or improve the functionality of a body part; not just limbs, prosthetics include, but are not limited to; eyes, arms, legs, hands, joints, toes, and facial prosthetics.” (Disabled world) I personally have a fascination with prosthetics for a few reasons, first of all; when I was a little kid I grew in spurts; my legs, neck, back, and arms were in incredible pain. I would grow six to eight inches about every three years. That might seem normal, but when I grew I would only grow two or three months out of those three years. I would have given anything to stop the pain and trade for prosthetics. Some days I wouldn’t even want to get out of bed. I hurt all over. Another reason is that my family has a military background and I feel a calling for military service, but I am unsure of joining the service, this is an indirect way to be involved with military service people in need of services. The last major reason is that prosthetics are super cool, but I know I can do something more. I was meant to enable people to reach their fullest potential; I feel it’s my destiny. Within this paper I am going to discuss the beginning stages of prosthetics to current prosthetic innovations. I have an affinity for two prosthetics organizations; two of the oldest and in my opinion the most innovative companies.
The first is Hanger Clinic; this is where I was lucky enough to do my final internship and the other is Ottobock, they are amazing, and Hanger Clinic uses a lot of their products. I am very impressed with both companies and I am most familiar with them as well.
The oldest known prosthetic is from Egyptian Era. Mummies have been found preserved with their prosthetic toes attached, all of the signs of wear on these prosthetics means that they were highly used and functional. Evidence shows that this prosthetic is over 2,600 years old. This means it was created between 950 and 710 BC. There was stabilizing screws into the ankle; some of the things seen on this ancient prosthetic are still used today! (messagetoeagle)
Even though the Egyptians seem to have had a grasp on the basic construction of a wearable functional prosthetic; many trials and tribulations came after that the leather false toes that the Egyptians created. It seemed that numerous amounts of prosthesis were large, bulky, and clumsily made. Some were impractical, even harmful to amputees. It wasn’t until the 1500’s that more modern prosthetics came about. These prosthetics did more than just “appear” to be a limb, they had a degree of functionality unlike earlier millennial attempts at prosthesis. This was all due to a gentle man named Ambrose Pare. He was a bit of a chop­job “surgeon”, but he did develop natural hinging hands, locking capabilities, and harnesses. As reluctant as I am to admit it, his innovations are similar in practicality and aesthetics to many used today.
(motherboard)
Another honorable mention in the history of more modernized prosthetics is; Peter Verduyn.
Verduyn produced the first non­locking below the knee prosthetic; that was in
1696.(motherboard) His creation is still widely used today; just slightly doctored up to be more comfortable. PAGE 1

War times in the united states has, unfortunately always lead to innovation. During the civil war the United States government felt the need to offer financial support to develop prosthetics. This funding lead to the development of The Great Civil War Benefaction. The leader and the founder of Hanger Clinic, the first man to become an amputee and to receive a prosthetic limb in the Civil war was James Edward Hanger. (Motherboard) Hanger was the leader in prosthetic innovation and he provided many with his services in this time of need.
During the first World War Otto bock made its first prosthetic limb. It was a rough attempt at something practical. Looking back at this rough design makes me cringe, because of the high quality prosthetics that Otto bock has since developed. This prosthetic used a belt around the waist and a strap over the neck to stabilize.
The trend in innovation after war continued after this. “The National Academy of Sciences established the Artificial Limb Program” during World War II. The National Academy of
Sciences aim was to make prosthetics a multidisciplinary field. This is when prosthetics really took off. “Since then experts from various fields including; engineering, robotics, design, and physiology have collaborated to make prosthetics.” (motherboard)
Both Otto bock and James Edward Hanger Believed in empowering human potential
.
To the right is Hanger’s actual prosthetic that he himself used after the Civil war. If there was one person I could meet from history; that would be who I would choose. I am inspired by his story of perseverance and drive, from being a victim of war to overcoming his disability to rise and become a hero.
Many prosthetics have a very similar design today, the same basic rules to stabilize the limb, create a natural gait and comfortable support for the limb to rest. Those are the basics of prosthetics and a large part of clients that Prosthetist serve today. The outlier of people do have the more expensive, more advanced innovations of prosthetics. These are the innovations that people are seeing on the news today; this is not the norm for more prosthesis users even though I would like to make innovations affordable to all people to excel all people to their greatest potential to really carry on the mission of Otto Bock and James Hanger.
Some of these innovations that are being tested and used in some cases are;
Bluetooth enabled; these prosthetics allow users to choose different modes of use for walking, running and other activities. They learn from the user’s gait and how they naturally walk creating a feeling of the limb being an extension of the body.
Ottobock is a company now; they are a “world leading developer of high quality, innovative and practical solutions to restore mobility and help people rediscover independence.” (Disabled World) One of the most impressive innovations from
Ottobock is the C­Leg. The C­Leg was developed in 1997 and has since been one of the most incredible prosthetic limbs in the world. I have had the opportunity to see a few of these in action when I worked with Hanger Clinic. They work with the body to create a stable gait and learn from the user’s natural habits of movement. In the photo to the right that is the photo of a very early model of a wooden prosthetic, the middle model is an example of a modular leg that uses a hydraulic knee, and the last is a
PAGE 2

C­Leg, which uses microprocessors; it was the first leg in the world to use this technology.
Approximately 60,000 people have been fitted with a C­Leg. They are stable and reliable.
(Ottobock)
The C­Leg is not the most advanced prosthetic out there but it is FDA approved. Many
Neuro­prosthetics are being tested and patented, but are not out on the market nor are they affordable for most people. They are in the process of getting approval from the FDA. Another advancement in prosthetics is the ability to 3D print prosthetics. Both Neuro­prosthetics and 3D printed products are not the end of the innovations that I would like to pursue. I have to be careful about sharing my ideas due to the fact that they are huge ideas and I would be giving away the most profitable, yet affordable and functional “neuro­prosthetic’ capable of functioning exactly like a human limb. I am extremely excited about what the future holds for these prosthetics. A few of the neuro­prosthetics; also known as Brain Computer Interface, are supposed to be on the market in about the next five years. (Gannet) these devices are the (near) future of prosthetics and the start of what I would like to do, they respond to the brain and firing neurons they tend to work best when a person is a newly amputated individual and they have less atrophy so the user still has the most functionality of the limb. An example of this is simply termed as a Bionic Leg. A gentleman named Zac
Vawter was fitted for one of these Bionic legs, but is not authorized to take his leg home as it is still being tested and perfected. To the right is an example of Vawters
Leg.
Throughout time prosthetics have come a long way, I am determined to keep this progress going as I advance in my field. I believe that where other people have left off; is only my starting point, it is where I will jump to my future as I learn to create more advanced, more affordable prosthetics. I won’t forget the past and the innovators that have paved the path that I am on. The future is where I am headed. I hope that it is as ready for me as I am for it.

Very Interesting Resources:

PAGE 3

Prehistoric Evidence Of Sophisticated Prosthetics In Ancient Egypt - Artificial Toes
Helped Egyptians Walk - MessageToEagle.com. (2014, February 20). Retrieved
December 27, 2015, from http://www.messagetoeagle.com/prehistoric-evidence-of-sophisticated-prosthetic s-in-ancient-egypt-artificial-toes-helped-egyptians-walk/
100 Year History of Ottobock Prosthetic Legs. (n.d.). Retrieved December 27, 2015, from http://www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/prostheses/100yrs.php
Wooden Legs and Duck Feet: A Brief History of Prosthetic Innovation. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 27, 2015, from http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/wooden-legs-and-duck-feet-a-brief-history-of-p rosthetic-innovation
Center For Innovation In Neuroscience and Technology - Neuroprosthetics. (n.d.).
Retrieved December 27, 2015, from http://cint.wustl.edu/project.aspx?NavID=461
(Gannet) P, M., & Ika, O. (2013, October 30). Researchers Developing
Brain-Controlled Prosthetic Devices. Retrieved December 27, 2015, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2013/10/30/brain-control-prosthetic s/3316343/
C-Leg 4: Above knee prosthesis — Ottobock. (n.d.). Retrieved December 27, 2015, from http://www.ottobock.co.uk/prosthetics/lower_limb_prosthetics/prosthetic-produc t-systems/c-leg-4/ PAGE 4

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Population Growth

...ROBOTIC PROSTHETICS Identifying a problem : The effect of bionic robotic on the future of humanity. Stating a claim: In a future bionic world the disabled will be those without any prosthetics. At what point human will become a cyborg and what are the risks of that for human being Human being is a special species not because it could speak but because of it abitlity of thinking seeking improvements Human enhancement is becoming more and more prominent otherwise are we heading to a bionic society an if so what are the two sides of such Cure illness should be the goal of medical evolution but there is a new tendency that is there to enhance normality. The ongoing evolution occurring in prosthetics and bionic devices is just amazing What might our descendants look like could be totally different from the known human image we’ve had till today eyer has become something of a poster boy for "transhumanism". Encompassing everything from robotic limbs to memory-enhancing neural implants to gene therapies that slow ageing, transhumanism (or posthumanism) concerns the technologies and drugs that are rapidly altering the limits of human performance, as well as notions about what we might look like in future organ transplants to replace malfunctioning livers and kidneys, or vaccines to boost the immune system, command wide social acceptance, At the moment, bionic hands are poor substitutes for the real thing – they can grasp and manipulate objects, but cannot feel. But what...

Words: 608 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Biomedical Engineering and Physics

...John Smith Dr. Madaro University Physics I Spring 2014 Biomedical Engineering and the Future of Modern Medicine I have always been interested in math and science, but my interest developed into a fascination this year in physics class. I enjoyed being able to apply all of the laws and theories that we learned in class to real-world situations. I liked being able to figure out the distance an object traveled just by knowing the acceleration and speed, finding the vertical and horizontal components of a force, and solving for the coefficient of friction of a surface. I loved that every concept seemed to build on the one before it, and how they all helped me understand the world in a way I never had before. Whenever I think about my future, what I want to study, and how I want to make a living, I always think of engineering- a career that would allow me to develop this fascination with the way the world works and to apply my knowledge to a project that could help improve peoples' lives. I want to go into this field to develop technology that could help cure disease or improve the quality of life of those with serious medical conditions. The concepts of Physics play a crucial part in the everyday work of Biomedical Engineers, specifically in the invention of prosthetic limbs, artificial organs, and improved hearing aids. "The first artificial limbs were stiff and did not have joints that bent like real arms, hands, or legs" (Woods 40). The invention of the artificial limbs...

Words: 712 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Economics of Human Robotic Engineering

...There are several areas that need to be explored when taking into consideration the economics of bionic human engineering because there are multiple parties involved in these considerations that include, the scientists, the patients, the doctors, the investors and the insurance companies. The culmination of these entities are what drive the research to happen in the first place based on the supply and demand strategies that the business environment drives. The interest in this technology for the scientist can stem from several different interests like personal interest in helping others, expanding technology, producing new ideas, and mainly an income source that will provide profitability for themselves and the companies that they work under. This profit margin on these types of technologies is what drives large scale companies to invest time and money into researching bionic engineering for human use. The risk of developing this type of technology is huge based on the amount of money needed to invest initially while still maintaining continuous investments throughout the life of the project itself. The benefits that all of these companies strive to obtain becomes endless once they have a working prototype that they can present to other investors. Most of these companies decide to produce the products themselves once they have perfected it, but there is a small amount that will sell the results to a company that is willing to then take on the responsibility of manufacturing the...

Words: 3687 - Pages: 15

Free Essay

Paradigm Shift

...technology or better known as AT is any item, piece of equipment, software or product system that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.” (ATIA) Assistive technology can be as simple as a motorized chair or complex as computers that help people communicate. Some hardware would include a crutch or a prosthetic limbs to help them walk or perform basic functions such as walking. In some cases these people need to remodel their whole house to compensate for their needs. Some other hardware could be switches or special keyboards. Companies or organizations that use or help promote assistive technology would be any hospital, “Ablenet which is a worldwide organization that helps kids and adults with disabilities to live fulfilling lives.”(Ablenetinc) Also most importantly the Wounded Warrior Project is the top organization and promoter that help the public be aware of the soldiers who return home. One of the impacts would be the advancement in prosthetics. Prosthetics now on the lower limbs have joints that imitate the motion of our knee or ankle. But prosthetics of the hands or arms can never get that feeling of our own hands such as grasping or lifting things. In twenty years or so these can actually go robotic so you can be able to use your fingers just like they used to as if the incident never happened. Not only just the upper extremities also the lower extremities as well. Give the patient the use of their toes so...

Words: 592 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Prosthetics: an Economical Way and Design

...[Teacher’s Name] By [Report Title] [Report Title] Motivation The applications for 3D Printing in Healthcare are immense. One of the most obvious is its use in printing prosthetics, which face a high rejection rate due to improper fit. Traditional prosthetic hands cost upwards of $50,000, and many insurance companies refuse to pick up the bill for children, who end up outgrowing them within only a couple years. It’s just not practical from a financial standpoint to spend $50,000 for a hand that a child may get very minimal use out of. Using open source 3D printable design files, anyone with a 3D printer can print out a custom sized prosthetic hand in a matter of hours. The price tag? Between $15-$50. That’s right, less than 1/10,000 of the price of traditional prosthesis. There are literally thousands upon thousands of children with severe upper limb disabilities from all over the world. The ability to create extremely affordable prosthetic hands means there is tremendous potential for all of these children and even adults to benefit from this  Prosthetics Definition In medicine, a prosthesis, (from Ancient Greek prósthesis, "addition, application, attachment")[1] is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trauma, disease, or congenital conditions. Prosthetic amputee rehabilitation is primarily coordinated by a prosthetist and an inter-disciplinary team of health care professionals including surgeons, physical therapists, and occupational...

Words: 8348 - Pages: 34

Premium Essay

Prosthetics

...There are many different ways prosthetics have impacted the medical and technology industry both positively and negatively. Here are some ways it did. I believe that bionic limbs have positively impacted the medical industry by helping people that have lost their limbs in the past and if they lose their limbs in the future. To start off, there are many people that lost limbs in the past, from war, or in bombing incidents, or for any other reasons. Not until the 1900’s did they even start making legs with rubber and other material other than wood. 10 years ago they just came out with the first bionic leg, that actually moved the way you wanted to. In the past you couldn’t even be athletic and mobile. You couldn’t attend a marathon and run it. In the past, they didn’t have the most comfortable material, they would just prescribe you drugs to get rid of the pain....

Words: 636 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Prosthetic Limb Research Paper

...Human prosthetics have revolutionized the quality of life for many amputees. War veterans who have missing limbs from battle have their lives changed with this kind of technology. People who have had amputations due to complications of certain physiological defects are also huge beneficiaries of this kind of technology. Amputees can now use their brain signals to move artificial limbs which can allow them to move, walk around, reach, and grab objects. They can just think and the artificial limb moves. Movement in a prosthetic limb could also depend on muscle movement in an amputee’s body. Based on my readings, one current breakthrough in the development of prosthetic limbs is the ability to create the sense of touch. There’s a notion of giving...

Words: 493 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Sports Prosthetics

...625,000,000 millions dollars are made a year around the world buying prosthetics. Most people think if you have a prosthetic you are at a definite weakness but what if i told you some people fought over that disadvantage and are now pro athletes and olympic gold medalist. In this research paper i will explain an event that changed the game for sports prosthetics the oscar pistorius case of 2007-2008. In sports like track all evidence points back to those prosthetics being advantages in the paper i will give you a few reasons why from world renowned scientist and college professors Due to the significant evidence, I believe that prosthetics give runners in sports an advantage for many reasons some of which I will tell you why I believe. In...

Words: 793 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Bionics

...under the research theme of bionics, we are applying the techniques and understanding of engineering to applications which will improve human health.  Our research group is a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, clinicians and biochemists, interfacing engineering technologies to biological systems to improve chronic disease management. The team is developing biomedical platforms based on established techniques and leveraging on semiconductor technology to produce a new breed of medical devices. Such examples include silicon β-cells in a bionic pancreas for diabetics, ultra low power solid-state bio/chemical sensors for continuous monitoring, advanced microfluidics for lab-on-chip technologies, neural monitoring and stimulation to enable future diagnostic/monitoring tools, in addition to therapies for personalised healthcare.  By improving diagnosis and offering individual solutions for managing chronic disease, personalised healthcare devices give patients more control over their treatment and enable them to continue with an independent lifestyle. A key drive is for these devices to provide low cost and thus disposable solutions for diagnosis and monitoring which can...

Words: 2970 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Photosynthesis Lab Report

...choosing the frequency band for the band-pass filter would be of importance for improving the control performance of a myoelectric prosthesis. At the higher frequency side of signal spectrum, a low-pass filter is used to attenuate the unwanted high-frequency components in EMG signals and avoid aliasing signal distortion. At the lower frequency side of signal spectrum, the cut-off frequency of a high-pass filter is determined by the need to remove slow variations in the signals caused by the motion artifacts such as electrode shift and cable movement. The lower frequency components of EMG spectrum mainly contain the information on the firing rates of active motor units, which may be important for some EMG studies. Training Classifier: EMG prosthetic hand controllers must generate the control commands from the extracted feature vector set. In other words, the controllers must learn operator’s characteristics to output the control command adequately using nonlinear functions because some person’s feature vectors differ from another person’s and the mapping relationships are not linear. The detection of different predefined hand motions (left, right, up and down) can be done by non-linear Functions. Target muscle Reinnervation (TMR): TMR uses the residual nerves from an amputated limb and transfers them onto alternative muscle groups that are not biomechanically functional since they are no longer attached to the missing arm. During the nerve transfer procedure, target muscles are denervated...

Words: 1907 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Prosthetist Certification Report

...I aim to secure a career as a Prosthetist. Obtaining certification to create artificial limbs for patients requires that I earn a masters degree in orthotics and prosthetics. The curriculum must be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. Ideally, I would then enlist in a one year residency certified by the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education. If I am to achieve my goal, I must finally be approved by the American Board of Certification. While attending Portland Community College I intend to start my mission by applying to the Medical Laboratory Program. This year, my ambition is to obtain an internship in Portland preferably at the Oregon Health and Science University. I have...

Words: 292 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Examples Of Kinesthesis

...I will first start out with explaining kinesthesis which is the sensation of movement or strain on joints or muscle others otherwise known as muscle senses like spidy senses like in spider man. Without having kinesthesis we would not know where any of our body parts would be as in if you put your hand behind your back and with it you know that your hand is behind your back. Without kinesthesis we would not know that your hand was there. Another example is that your muscle would be really uncoordinated without it. So if you tried running a marathon without kinesthesis you would run into everyone because you would be all over the place. because you would not really know where your limbs would be. The next thing i will be going over is vestibular...

Words: 256 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Joint Replacement Research Paper

...impact strength of any thermoplastic presently made, meaning the bearing will support the impact of movement and leave the metal unscathed (Quill Healthcare, 2012). It is also nontoxic, has extremely low moisture reabsorption and self-lubricating, making it work well in a human body and respond well to friction (Liu, et al., 2011). Figure 3: Example of a design of a hip joint replacement. (Edwards, 2015) Summary Conclusively, the use of different material classes has overall improved the function and durability of joint replacements in the contemporary world. Metal alloys, engineering ceramics and Polyethylene bearings are used because of their high strength and density properties whilst also being safe from a medical point of view. The future of joint replacements may inhabit other materials, however for now these material classes make for successful procedures and happy patients. ...

Words: 988 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Hip Arthroplasty

...Hip arthroplasty is the replacement of the hip joint with a prosthesis, and is one of the most common reconstructive operations (Huo et al 2008). Hip arthroplasty may be performed when irreversible damage has occurred to the joint; this damage often causes pain, dysfunction and reduced quality of life. The pre-operative nursing considerations begin with patient education. This should begin at the time the decision is made to have the surgical procedure performed. It is important that the patient understand the preoperative requirements, the surgical procedure, postoperative care and the necessary home/activity modification. The patient should be instructed in self-preparation, including mental and emotion readiness and having a positive attitude about the surgical outcome. There is a great deal of evidence that a patient’s psychological state before the surgery impacts on their recovery afterwards. Studies have shown that patients who report lower levels of general or mental health before surgery have worse physical health outcomes, such as pain levels, after surgery (Long et al, 2005). Like all surgeries, the patient will be assed for their ability to tolerate the procedure and anesthesia. Of particular concern is their cardiovascular and respiratory status, and the presence of any comorbidities. The patient should also be evaluated for the presence of any infection, as it could spread to the hip prosthesis. The teaching of postoperative exercise before surgery allows the...

Words: 774 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Research Paper 1: Paradigm Shift

...Research Paper 1: Paradigm Shift Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System is created by Second Sight design for people that are suffering from blindness. It starts with an epiretinal prosthesis implant which is an implant placed on top of the retina. Also attach is an antenna, electronics case, and an electrode array. Those parts are than connected to glasses, cable, and video processing unit. How it works is a small camera in the glasses capture an image than is processed by VPU that is attached to the belt. It than sends the instruction back through the cable to the glasses. They are than wirelessly transmitted to the antenna in the implant. Which go to the electrode array that creates a small pulse of electricity. These pulses stimulate functioning cells bypassing the damage photoreceptor. They then send visual information through the optical nerve to the brain. The patient is than able to see pattern of light. One impact is the ability to see anything as a person with blindness. They being able to see an image that is not just darkness. To see a world in not just one color but in a variety of colors. Second to be able to see motion in front of them. Moving object would be able to be seen. To see what the things making sound are and what are they. Third impact is what it would do to their self-confidence. It would boost it immensely for they would not have to rely on another being to do something. To be able to walk outside and not have to rely on a walking stick, a person...

Words: 392 - Pages: 2