Prosthetic Limbs

Group 6 – Charleta Williams, Eric Trizis, Randy Tejeda, Adam Harte, Dwayne Wolfe, Marcus

Mitchell, and Shiquita Green

What is a Prosthetic Limb? • An artificial extension that replaces a missing

body part and allows that person to continue on with his/her life.

• The prosthetic limb has come a long ways sense its development and has proven to be beneficial to all who have used them.

Prosthetic Limbs

• History• Merging of Technology• Common Users• Future of Prosthetics

Agenda

History

• Earliest known prostheses: Egyptian Big Toe• Pirates – Peg legs and hooks?• George Washington – Wooden Teeth

Early History

• Ambroise Paré - The Father of Facial Prosthetics• Anesthesia Improvements• Development of Sterile Surgery

Early History – Cont.

• During WWII (1939-1945), the US government spearheaded research into artificial limbs.

• In 1968, Marvin Minsky developed the Tentacle Arm.

Modern History

• In 1969, Victor Scheinman completed the Stanford Arm.

• In 1998, Campbell Aird was fitted with the first bionic arm, the Edinburg Modular Arm System (EMAS).

Modern History – Cont.

Merging of Technology

• Transtibial Prosthesis• Transfemoral Prosthesis• Transradial Prosthesis• Transhumeral Prosthesis

Four Types of Prosthetic Limbs

• DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) the U.S. Department of Defense agency responsible for development of new technology for use by the military, seems to be spearheading the development of prosthetic limbs.

Prosthetics, The Military, and Technology

Common Users

• War Veterans are high up on the list for prosthetics. They are constantly surrounded by explosives and terrorists

• Recently, an article was read about a former war veteran who lost his arms, leg, and a right index finger to a bomb in Iraq.

• With the use of prosthetics, however, he is able to continue living a closer to normal life. He has not been bounded to a wheelchair and he’s now able to once again skateboard, ride his bicycle, and hold his children.

War Veterans

• Firefighters are always expected to lend a helping hand when there is an emergency. However, there have been instances when things don’t always go the way they were intended to. Gregory Malais is now a retired fireman that lost his leg at work.

Fire Fighters

• According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, someone is injured by a car accident every 10 seconds, a death occurs every 12 minutes, and a 117 people die every day.

• For those that don’t die and are in serious accidents, quite often they are bounded to wheel chairs or other aids. Many victims also survive with the aid of prosthetics.

Car Accident Victims

Future of Prosthetics

• The Open Prosthetics Project• What does the OPP do for the industry?• How can open-source designs help the people

who need prosthetics?

Open-source Design

• Developed between 1920s – 1930s• Revived technology• Has been reverse engineered and made new.

The Trautman Hook

• Has created new interest in the product.• Can be rapidly manufactured.

Improved Design

• The original design was very durable.• Making sure the open-source design is just as

durable is a main goal of the OPP.

Durability

• Finding manufacturers that are willing to produce the OPP.

• Investors and manufacturers feel that the market is too small, making it not very profitable to produce them.

Marketing

• From wood to merging into technology, Prosthetic limbs has come a long way and we now have a better approach.

• The use of technology has made it much better for numerous people to use prosthetic limbs as they are easier to operate now.

Conclusion

• The most common users are: War Veterans, Fire Fighters, and Car Accident Victims.

• The future for Prosthetics are improving with new technology every day, prosthetic limbs have no choice but to become stronger and to be used by more people.

Conclusion

• You should now have a better understanding of the history, merging of technology, who the common users are, and the future of prosthetics.

Conclusion

Questions