Prosthetics In The Medical Field

Prosthesis is a term used for replacing a human body part which has been damaged or cut accidently with an artificial one. Earliest users of prosthesis were Ancient Egyptians. Due to war injuries they used prosthetic limbs to look complete. A prosthetic toe was found on a 3000 years old mummy. An ancient Greek historian

In the early years of film, make-up artists were not recognised for their artistic skills and ingenuity of making prosthetics or their imagination of bringing others creations to life. Many of the artists were also actors or stunt men who learnt the craft by applying their own make up for film and theatre. Compared to today’s materials used to make prosthetics, many of the materials they used were very basic as they used spirit gum, fish skin, cotton, gelatin, greasepaints, collodion, cheesecloth, clay, Fullers Earth, various putties, pastes and wax and latex. The first documented prosthetic was in the 1909 book “The Art of Theater Make up” by Cavendish Morton, who when transforming himself into the character Falstaff used silk attached to a wig, nose paste, spirit gum, crepe hair and greasepaints.

Prosthetics has always been part of most of our history, and it has come a long way since then. Forms of prosthetics date way back to the Civil War, and has made a lot of progress throughout the years. During the Civil War, many soldiers would have to be amputated everyday to save their lives. For example, in the text “I Will Not Get Out of Heart Yet,” it states that “Soldiers shot in the arm or leg on the battlefield were highly likely to develop potentially fatal infections, and the only way to prevent a painful death was to cut off the damaged body part.” Despite this fact, prosthetics were extremely uncomfortable to wear and were considered “crude contraptions” and “ were usually made of wood or steel --- that were awkward and painful to wear.” Many soldiers did not like having prosthetic limbs, as they were uncomfortable to wear and awkward to move around with.

This opened up a new world of complications for both the amputee and the surgeon as it usually lead to life-threatening and painful infections. (Thompson, Helen) The knowledge gained during these years of amputation helped ameliorate future fields of

Prosthetic limbs have been around for centuries, but what is one thing they all have in common? They have all been a nuisance. In recent years technology of the modern day Prosthesis has ventured to new heights, but they have not perfected an artificial limb yet. With the amount of people in need of prosthetic limbs, the demand for a perfect prosthesis is tremendous. The perfect prosthesis shouldn’t feel or even look like an artificial limb. Prosthetics should go unnoticed throughout the rest of the amputee’s life.

From peg legs and hooks to mechanical arms and legs, prosthetics have improved drastically since the dawn of time. Prosthetics have allowed amputees to obtain more mobility and flexibility in their lives. The advancements in prosthetics have also led to a better understanding in the area of amputation and in the assembly of the prosthetics themselves. The question is what allowed the advancements of prosthetics to happen in the first place? The answer lies within technology and its role in the medical field. Technology has allowed for prosthetics to not only look like real limbs, but to function as though they are real. Progression in the fabrication of the prosthetic limbs from wood and leather, to now programmable microprocessor controls

Documents dating back to 3500 B.C. detail the use of prosthetics. Besides the functionality a limb proposes, many believed the missing limb would not allow for the person to be whole in the afterlife (Thurston, 2007). The many primitive prosthetics used in the B.C. era were to aid in gross motor movements and offered little help with fine motor movements.

Prosthesis have been around since the early 1400 century. One of the first functioning limb replacement was created around the renaissance times. It was a replacement hand for a general who lost a hand in war. The hand was constructed from copper and steel.

During the B.C.E, General Marcus Sergius, who is a famous ancient roman to wear prosthetic limb. He lost his right hand during the Punic war. His prosthesis was made of iron, it allowed him to hold his shield to continue the fight. Most of the prosthetics we read about show how warfare was the biggest contributor which created the need for prosthetics.

conjunction with the human body, which plastics are used in prosthetic limbs, and if there

Take a second, and imagine your life as a teenager, fresh out of college with, aspiring to get a degree in whatever your heart desires. You’ve got lots of ambition and potential. The world is at your fingertips; you can do anything you set your mind to. But one day, tragedy strikes and the unthinkable happens: you lose a limb. Why is not important, but what the future entails is. Let’s say this limb is your right arm, the one you have used all your life to write, eat, type and play the guitar. Now let’s change the scenario a little bit. Instead you’ve lost your legs in a horrific car accident where both were crushed under the weight of the dashboard as your car collided with the 4x4 in front of you. You wake up the next day in the hospital groggy, barely remembering what happened. Shock is the only thing running through your mind the moment you look down to see your legs missing. Your brain thinks they’re still there because yesterday you were just getting out of bed for your morning jog. All that remains are the stubs where your legs used to be and the unbearable thought of being confined to a motorized chair for the rest of your life.

In 2000, scientists discovered an oldest prosthetic toe made of leather and wood in Egypt. This artificial limb was found connected to mummified remains of noblewoman, whose age is almost 3000 years. It is a great artefact to present how prosthetics have changed throughout history. Compared with recent time prosthetics, these devices were made from wood and metal, also, were covered with leather.

The history of prosthetics dates back to the early “Egyptians between 950 and 710 B.C. according to the discovery in 2000 of the world’s first prosthetic toe, composed of wood and leather, from the mummified remains of a noblewoman.” (Advancements in Limb Prosthetics

Easton LaChappelle made a huge leap in prosthetics’ technology, not only minimising the cost, but also improving its aspects: strength, movability, and comfort. - this already changed the world.

The sport of choice for my prosthetic design will be skateboarding. The design would be similar to the left picture above except with a few slight alterations. The first alteration would be to shorten the prosthetic so it would be tailored for a BK amputee. Another important feature would be a light durable frame that has some give- possible small shock absorbers in the ankle area to absorb jumping impact. The foot design would look similar to the picture shown on the right except the ankle joint would have fluid movement and allow better stabilization for landing