Robotic Prosthetics Vs. Real Limbs

Throughout history, technology and science have changed prosthetics very drastically. For example, in the article Science life, it talks about the victims in the Boston Marathon, and it also talks about how hard it was to adapt to the prosthetics they needed. Most importantly, it says they have made improvements to the prosthetics and how they can connect to your mind to help control the prosthetics. In the article by Kim M. Norton it lectures about how the prosthetics started wooden and have improved to the point that they are automatic and look like real human parts. Technology and science are still improving prosthetics today to become better than they are now.

Prosthesis is a term used for replacing a human body part which has been damaged or cut accidently with an artificial one. Hybrid prosthetic limb is a combination of mechanical and electrical circuit in which a controller gives command to electrically driven motor for the gripper opening and closing. Signal for the gripper opening or closing is acquired from the other shoulder movement. A strap on the shoulder is tied to a string which switches on or off the limit switch to give a trigger signal. This trigger signal actuates the motor in the gripper to perform open or close operation.

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 invention has given a chance for survivors to feel whole again giving them enough confidence to go back to their normal lives. Although the main purpose of this is for the disabled, it still has a significant contribution to the technology used in robotics, mainly because it allows engineers to understand how our body moves. An application of this technology can be seen with planetary rovers or deep sea submarines, where the purpose of it is to gather data from extreme environments. This science can also be further developed to create humanoid robots that can be used to push the boundaries of science and imagination revolutionizing how people

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.

Throughout history, many people became amputees through serving in the military. War has influenced the advancements of prosthetics. The Civil War and the World War inspired the advancements of prosthetics and provided a gateway to the rapid

One of the solutions that Pro-sthetic Printers developed is a glove functioning as a prosthetic hand with a rechargeable source located in a “watch” compartment. There will be a number pad on the top of the hand, used to control the motions of the fingers. Each joint will have a number assigned to it, as seen in Figures 1 and 2. The numbers can be pressed in specific sequences to trigger specific types of motion along the joints and grips. The grip can then be released by pressing a cancel button on the number pad. Our idea is to make a new version of the Glove One, which is a robotic glove that has the capabilities of a basic cell phone. This model will have a shape similar to the Glove One model and will also have a similar range of motion. The prosthetic shall be able to slide over the users palm, like a glove, and will have hollow finger protrusions. The hollow finger protrusions allow for the user’s remaining anatomic fingers to work together with the prosthetic fingers. Our model will have five fingers that can be programmed based on the user’s needs. There will also be a velcro strap across the palm to ensure that the prosthetic model will not slip off. The fingers of our model will have different joints so that the user can have a wide range of motion. Our prosthetic model will be able to do more complex motions than just the whole hand grasp, as seen in Figures 3,4 and 5.

In the future the medical discovery will be extensive. The world of prosthesis has become more innovative in the last year. In the nineties, prosthetics were made of plastic, wood, and leather. Recently, doctors have designed a prosthetic arm in which the nerves from the brain are sent to the arm. This allows full function. This is only the beginning to a future of bionic prosthetic arms. In the future, doctors could design a bionic arm that doesn't look so robotic. A new arm that looks real and has full function might be designed. If doctors keep on being innovative, the most high tech arm could be created, and the prosthesis will be easy to access.

Modern prosthetic limbs have become very advanced in the last decade. They now have the ability to grip objects, have running limbs, and many more wonderful things. Although these prosthetics are great, they are lacking some key extras that amputees would relish. What amputees really want is their sense of feeling back. They want to reach out with their prosthetic limb and be able to tell if the stove is on or off. They want to be able to press the gas of an automobile. This sense, that all non-amputees take for granted, would be a great place to start the improvement of the perfect prosthetic limb. To accomplish such a daunting task, engineers must figure out an alternative source that could interact with the amputees still intact nerve endings. This way they can use their still functioning nerves to communicate with their pseudo-nerve and have the ability to move their prosthesis around with complete control of it and its sense of touch. I believe this has not

Just like a dexterous robotic hand that can grab objects by controlling individual fingers, this project has grabbed my attention. One of the reasons why I am so interested in your project is because of my desire to build prosthetics. Even though I have very little research experience, I have a strong desire to work for this project to learn more about biomechanics ranging from understanding the biology behind it, ranging from neuronal signals and muscle contractions, to actually understanding how we can design mechanical parts to perform the daily tasks in life such as lifting heavy objects and even writing.

These pathways are how our biological limbs communicate with our brain; this is crucial to understand in order to attempt to emulate these actions in artificial limbs.15 A natural limb is capable of receiving direct commands from the person and preform accordingly; this occurs seemingly instantly. In addition to simple control, a biological limb has many degrees of freedom to perform different body movements.15 An efficient prosthesis should mimic the faculty of control seen in biological limbs. Amputees often rely on visual feedback to guide their prosthesis, and prosthetic limbs generally feel numb to the user though today there are many strategies and methods to enhance the communication between artificial and prosthetic limbs, as well as

We touched on this earlier with Hugh Herr and his exoskeleton and his artificial limbs, his goal was to make them seamlessly work with the human body at that point we have reach some form of cybernetics. Each d

When creating a prosthetic device a hugely important aspect to consider is the control system of choice. The core of every prosthetic device is the control system, which can be mechanical, electrical or have both mechanical and electrical components. The mechanical components physically replace the missing limb in space and the electrical components enable desired movements to be executed.14 Choosing an appropriate control system provides the amputee with the ability to carry out desired movements easily and efficiently. To create an effective control system four components are essential: sensors, the controller, an actuator, and the interfacing unit14. Sensors are crucial as they are used to sense position, torque, angle, proximity, strength,

Prosthetic limb is an artificial device that is used to replace the amputated part of the patient’s limb. Myo prosthetic limb takes the signals from the patient’s muscles, which are live, to operate the artificial limb that is being used to replace the amputated part of the arm. Through the mechanical and electrical technologies’ applications it tries to copy the movement of the actual limb. In most cases, the bicep or triceps muscles can be used to retrieve those signals which are to be processed further through circuitry. Other than that, any other muscle that is active and can give the slight electrical signal can be used to process the signal. Myo prosthetic limb comprises of electrical portion, that is the circuitry, as well as the mechanical portion that is the actuator and gripper. The signals that are received can be used to actuate the gripper through which any object can be picked, held and released as per the requirement of the patient.

such as static prosthesis, simple artificial limbs like peg legs which do not enable the person