The Progression of Prosthetics Hannah Rowe Madison High School Mr. Snelgrove March 26, 2018 Abstract This paper covers the progression of prosthetic limbs over the years, as well as how the technological advancements of prostheses can affect someone’s life who has suffered from limb loss. It goes over the benefits and disadvantages of having a prosthetic limb, and a portion of the process of what it takes to create an artificial limb. The Progression of Prosthetics “Each year in the United States, an estimated 158,000 persons undergo amputation, with the overall number of amputations being performed increasing,” (Raichle et al., 2008, 961-972), as well as the statistic that “One in every 2,000 …show more content…
(Prosthesis) These prosthetic devices are used to supply a sense of comfort to the amputee that their missing limb is still there, even if it is just a substitute. Prosthetics can improve mobility as well as allow the amputee to stay independent in completing occupational and everyday activities. They are most commonly made out of variations of plastics and lightweight metals like titanium and aluminum, so the amputee feels as though the prosthetic is more limb-like because of its lightweight nature. One of these limbs can cost anywhere from $5,000- $50,000 and will have to be replaced every three to five years, depending on how advanced the prosthetic is. Whereas, when they were first being developed, prosthetics were made out of materials such as wood, rubber, and metal, which would have caused great difficulty while trying to function and live everyday …show more content…
“Ancient literature and archeological finds show the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and ancient Indian societies all fashioned artificial body parts from wood or metal. Prosthetics were either minimally functional decorations meant to hide a missing limb or functional attachments that barely resembled natural body parts” (After the accident: Amputation, 2011, p. 14) However, the real progression in prosthetics took place in the mid-late 1500’s, when a surgeon of the name Ambroise Paré introduced modern amputation procedures and new inventions for prostheses such as a peg leg that had the function to kneel, and the knee lock control. Both of which are basic techniques used in the development of prosthetics
“[Ewell] had lost a leg at Manassas and had just recently returned to the army, and he was standing awkwardly balancing himself against the unfamiliar leg… swaying nervously, clutching a fencepost,” (Shaara, 224). He is missing part of his leg, and explains that a minie ball hit his leg “just below the jointed knee” (Shaara, 225); back in the day minie balls were used and could shatter bone, so doctors would render the wound untreatable and amputate the limb it hit. Amputations were very common and done with anesthesia, which was recently made at the time; sometimes they didn’t use it when amputations occurred. When James Longstreet, a lieutenant general, is riding off back to the camp after the first day of the battle, he sees a wagon with many limbs in it. “[Longstreet] passed by a hospital wagon, saw mounded limbs glowing whitely in the dark, a pile of legs, another of arms.
Limbs are a vital part of everyday life for humans. The arm of a human is comprised of one large bone (the humerus) connected to two
Igor Spetic is a volunteer at the research center in the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He uses his left hand, which is his own flesh and blood, and his right hand, a plastic metal prosthetic (a consequence of an industrial accident). The prosthetic in his right hand uses the “myoelectric” device which is controlled by flexing his muscles in his right arm. Myoelectric prosthetics serves the purpose of an artificial limb while maintaining the appearance of the limb. Myoelectric prosthetics are different from body-powered prosthetics because body-powered prosthetics uses cables and harnesses strapped to the individual to mechanically and carefully guide the artificial limb through muscle, shoulder, and arm movements.
Amputation which often on the battlefield did save lives, because a crushed foot or arm would always lead to a fatal systemic infection, so it was simpler to cut it off other than to try and save it. Having to work very quickly, a very skilled surgeon would cut through the flesh that was saw completely through the bone and apply a piping red hot iron to fix off the stump’s raw surface and stop the bleeding of the cut. Sometimes the entire operation was performed in less than two minutes. By having a limb amputated the mortality risk was about fifty percent. But even with a fifty-fifty chance of living after this surgery was a better chance that most received, because if the person didn’t receive treatment they would most definitely die.
Evolution - the gradual adapting and changing process that humans go through. Looking back from the past, now in the present, and into the future it is easy to see the we as humans have always and always will feel the need to adapt to our surrounding in order to survive. It is apart of what makes us human. In Juan Enriquez presentation over “What humans will look like in the next 100 year,” he explains this need for advancement through the use of prosthetics; saying that to some people they are a need, but with certain advancements they are becoming more of a want. The human race feels the push to advance in order to survive thus pushing us to view prosthetics as a way to change fundamental aspects of humanity.
A “regular” amputation would look like the limb getting cut off quickly in a circular motion to stop more blood loss, though blood loss was one of the least common ways of dying. One of the most dangerous parts of an amputation was that it wasn’t very sanitary. The surgeons and doctors would use unsanitary and reused bandages which is why Bromine became an important part of operations, cleaning the instruments and such. The whole of the United States and the future of the world learned from the diseases and injuries from the Civil War.
When the patient moves the intact limb and looks in the mirror, it gives the appearance that the amputated limb is also moving, which may alleviate some associated pain or learned paralysis. For larger limbs, a large mirror is used without a box. The mirror is placed between the intact limb and the stump, with the mirror facing the stump. Just as with the mirror box, this allows the patient to see the reflection of the intact limb, providing the illusion that the amputated limb is still present and able to be moved (Subedi
According to Mental Floss Magazine, “Amputation saved more lives than any other wartime medical procedure… they lost only about 25 percent of their patients—compared to a 75 percent mortality rate among similarly injured civilians at the time” (Document 6). This highlights the progress made by surgeons. The number of injured people was extremely high, so the war surgeons determined that amputation was the greatest way to prevent infections. Indeed, the war influenced surgeons to evolve new methods and these medical promotions laid groundwork for procedures in the future. Since this process was extremely painful, these surgeons developed the use of anesthesia which also played a crucial role in the causeway.
I spend my observation hours in the training room this week. While in the training room, I learned a lot more about the e stem machine. I learned that e-stem is mainly used to reduce pain as opposed to actually healing the injured body part. The e-stem can also be used to help people recover from surgery. It is crazy thinking about all the resources we have now to help people return from injuries.
Someone who witnessed the surgeries had said, “Tables about breast high had been erected upon which the screaming victims were having legs and arms cut off. The surgeons and their assistants, stripped to the waist and bespattered with blood, stood around, some holding the poor fellows while others, armed with long, bloody knives and saws, cut and sawed away with frightful rapidity, throwing the mangled limbs on a pile nearby as soon as removed. " Surprisingly, even though things were very unsanitary, around 75% of amputees survived. Excision and resection were used later in the war, where only part of a limb was cut off instead of a whole one. Prosthetics also exploded due to the mass amount of amputees, and crutches were used for those who couldn’t afford prosthetics.
According to the article, “Nothing Can Stop Him” it states “Ezra Frech ran with all his might. His powerful legs pushed him forward. One leg was flesh, muscle, and bone. The other was made of a material stronger than steel”. First, I think having prosthetic legs would be a bit of an advantage to someone considering that they couldn’t feel anything in their legs.
Amanda Kitts is a great example “The assembly is topped by a white plastic cup midway up Kitts’s biceps, encircling a stump that is almost all that remains from the arm she lost in a car accident in 2006.” Due to the car accident in 2006, Kitt has an arm with “… flesh-colored plastic…underneath are three motors, a metal frame, and a network of sophisticated electronics.” Although, Kevin wasn’t in a car accident he still uses bionic parts for his legs and arms. “…little Freak showed up one day with these shiny braces strapped to his crooked legs, metal tubes right up to his hips, why those were even more cool than crutches.” This quote directly from “Freak the Mighty” (pg. 12) proves that Freak has similar problems.
The marvel superhero Iron Man has inspired the United States to create a real life version. America has made great leaps in the development of this exoskeleton in the past years. The Iron Man will greatly affect the world we know today. The exoskeleton would affect the military, the medical field, and the job industry.
Body modification is the act of altering one’s body for several different reasons such as aesthetic pleasures, self and identity expression as well as religious beliefs and even significant changes in one’s life such as rites of passage or affiliation1. The act of body modification has been around for centuries, some can be traced back to the Predynastic period in Egypt. The concept of body modification is quite an umbrella terms, under are hidden a number of different categories such as scarification, implants, tongue splitting, branding and even, common as it may seem, tattoos and piercings etc1. For the purpose of this paper, we will ignore several of these categories, only focusing on tattoos. The history and most importantly reason hidden behind a tattoo is just as interesting and complex as the design of the tattoo itself.
Technology has had a leading impact in the medical field since it has allowed it to reach areas that were probably once thought as intangible. For instance, cancer treatments and bone marrow transplants were not likely to occur successfully in the past due to how costly the treatments were or not being able to fulfill it because of the lack of devices. However, now, doctors, nurses, and even therapists enhance this wonder into their daily activities in which they help others recuperate. Therefore, new technology has led to many innovative ways of solving medical mysteries, for it allows more precise diagnostics, enhances the world of medicine, provides higher advancements in prosthetics, helps result in adequate treatment for our furry