Prosthetics: How an Idea Can Use a Thought to Move a Muscle
Recently prosthetics have had a longer stint in the media than normal because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Civilians have no doubt seen a Veteran missing a limb or two at a Wal-Mart or Starbucks, I know I have. Let us face facts fellow humans; we as a species are a fragile lot. And as such delicate creatures we tend to lose limbs and senses quite easily as well as frequently. Thankfully we are an intelligent bunch and have been inventing new ways to cope. And, thankfully, we have been doing this for quite some time now, so the products developers are churning out aren’t too shabby. But to get to where we are now means we had to have started somewhere. My goal for this paper is to elaborate a bit on the remarkable history of prosthetic limbs. As well as explain where new technologies are leading us in the expansion of prosthetic limb development.
The first known prosthetic limb to be discovered was a big toe, and it was discovered in Cairo, Egypt in 2000 still attached to the mummy it belonged to. It was crafted out of the typical mediums one would presume to be lying around at the time i.e. wood and leather. This is a remarkable fact for a few reasons, the first is it was attached to the host using leather straps and buckles, yet remained resilient for thousands of years. Secondly the leather and strap method of attachment remained the pinnacle technique used to secure any prosthetic until the late 1800’s. At around the same time as the Egyptians, the Greeks were developing their own versions of fake limbs, using the same methods and materials. When Rome came about they started making new limbs out of a newly discovered alloy that had twice the durability than anything on the planet at the time: Iron. And with this new strength and resilience comes a sense of dual purpose. It wasn’t uncommon for a blacksmith to craft hands already shaped to sufficiently hold a shield, sword or dirk. Plus it gave the wearer a sense of wholeness, which most amputees’ lack.
Jump ahead a thousand years with the advent of mechanical hinges and self locking joints by two pioneers (Ambroise Pare & Pieter Verduyn) thus giving prosthetics newly added flexibility, comfort and control. More recently with the creation of the Artificial Limb Program in 1945 by the National Academy of Sciences researchers have been continuing to develop artificial limbs with the latest and greatest technologies from new metal alloys and advanced plastics to impulse controlled limbs. This is a great comfort knowing that there are people out there with the capability to remedy a sudden loss of limb. Being a Veteran, one of my main concerns (other than dying) was losing a limb in combat, and if that were to happen, I took great comfort in seeing the capabilities of our current technology.
In 2007 I returned from Advanced Individual Training. I expected to come home to see my family all intact and healthy. It seemed highly likely that would be the case seeing how I was the one whom was doing all the high speed training involving rifles and live rounds. Sadly, though, when I returned home to Connecticut, I found that my uncle was involved in a terrible tractor trailer accident, resulting in a double amputation just below his knee caps. Yes, his life was turned upside down for awhile, but because he had his accident in 2007 instead of the 1800’s, he was given the most technologically advanced prosthetics for someone with his disability. To this day he still cares for his perfectly manicured lawn, and he still participates as a coach in his sons’ youth sports. Similarly with the recent bombings in Boston, MA the nation was yet again exposed to the reality of how fragile we truly are.
Prosthetics today serve a wide variety of applications, from a simple cosmetic hand to a leg that slightly resembles a bent paperclip used by runners. We have even achieved the ability to create a limb that operates solely on