Farzin Daruwala

Farzin Daruwala

Mr. Coussens

English

May 5, 2020

Prosthetic Engineering

A prosthetic is able to transform a human into someone new, and it is able to give the feeling of completion to an amputee. For my capstone project I am going to digitally create a model of what a real prosthetic arm would look like. Ever since I was just 6 years old, I knew I wanted to help others. I still remember seeing an advertisement for a prosthetic and the girl in the advertisement had the largest smile on her face while kicking a soccer ball with her prosthetic leg. I knew from then on that one of the most important things to me would be to make children happy just like the girl was and become a prosthetic engineer when I grew up. Through my research, I learned about the evolution of prosthetics, how a prosthetic is created, what materials are needed to create a prosthetic and how a prosthetic is important to an amputee. The creation of prosthetics, just like any invention, has gone through multiple cycles of editing, yet it has still overcome many hurdles that in the end became something that can change an amputee’s life.

General Marcus Sergius had gotten the opportunity to be the wearer of the first prosthetic, which then later on Ambroise Paré had modified. General Marcus Sergius was the first person to have been recorded wearing a prosthetic arm (Bell). He had lost his right arm in the Punic War and henceforth was no longer able to fight (Kwon). An unknown doctor created an iron prosthetic arm for Sergius to wear. It allowed Sergius to continue fighting in battle and gave him the ability to hold his shield (Bell). Since the creator of Sergius’s arm is unknown, most people consider Ambroise Paré, a famous doctor in the sixteenth century (Bell), as the creator of the first functioning prosthetic arm. By creating the first functional arm and leg, he implemented a hinge to the elbow of the prosthetic arm so that it would be able to bend. He also added a hinge to the knee of the prosthetic leg so that the person would be able to squat (Kwon). Since in the sixteenth century soldiers fighting in war would be the main people to lose limbs, Paré mainly manufactured prosthetics for soldiers (Bell). The user and the creator of the first prosthetic would create a large impact in the creation of prosthetics. They would inspire many organizations as well as people to continue with the journey that they had begun.

After the work of Paré, many other scientists, including William Selvo took up the challenge to make the prosthetic even better for the users. All the while organizations were helping out veterans who had amputations. About two centuries after Ambroise Paré, doctors wanted to make the prosthetic more comfortable for the user to wear. In 1840, the process of gaseous anesthesia had been created by Sir Humphry Davy (“Anesthetic”). This allowed the surgeons to do the surgery for a longer time, which increased their precision. The surgeon's preciseness allowed the patient’s success rate to increase. The use of prosthetics began to rise as well (Kwon). In 1857, a famous scientist named William Selvo had been able to create a prosthetic arm that functions off of the muscular motion from the opposite arm (Bell). This allowed the user to feel like their arm was functioning more freely so they did not have to put in as much effort to move their arm. About a century later many veterans from World War II (Kwon) had greatly suffered with the deal of limb losses. Since this became a large problem for veterans, the National Academy of Sciences decided to create the Artificial Limb Program in 1945 (Bell). The Artificial Limb program primarily focused on giving advanced care to veterans who had amputations and helped them become situated in their environment once again (Kwon). William Selvo and the Artificial Limb program were a huge success by helping people with prosthetics. They were also able to modify the prosthetics to make it even more comfortable for the user than before.

Over the course of many centuries, prosthetics have changed in their shapes and appearances, but are actually not that different from how they looked two centuries ago. In the early sixteenth century prosthetics were purely mechanical (Bell). Many people that had an amputation went through the process of physical therapy. Physical therapy allowed the amputee to physically and mentally get used to their prosthetic (Kwon). Even though prosthetics have been able to advance in the amount of materials and designs, the components and the overall layout to make a prosthetic is still the same. Today prosthetics are not only mechanical, but also biomechanical (Bell). Each prosthetic is specially customized to the amputee so that it will be able to fit with their muscular and skeletal structure. Prosthetics now have built-in sensors which allow the mind to feel that it is actually controlling the hand which makes it more comfortable for the user (Kwon). Prosthetics may not have been able to advance as much as people thought it would, but it has given many people who have lost limbs another chance at living life normally.

Many people who had lost limbs got another chance because of prosthetics. It had helped them to continue living life the way that they would want to. Igor Septic had lost his arm in a car crash while driving out from his office (Tsai). He was taken into a lab at Case Western Reserve University and had the opportunity to be one of the first owners of an extremely advanced prosthetic arm (Kwon). The hand that was created by Case Western Reserve University was given to them by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency and was worth 4.4 million dollars. Igor’s hand allowed him to actually feel what he was touching through myoelectric sensors. This hand allowed Igor to function regularly, as he was able to open bags and cut fruits like anyone would be able to do with a regular limb (Tsai). Though it may not seem like it, Igor is not the only person who got to live normally once again because of a prosthetic. Oscar Pistorious is one of the other people who was lucky enough to live regularly. Oscar wanted to compete in the 2008 Olympic games, but was not able to because his prosthetic leg was considered as an advantage against the other “normal” players. In spite of this, he finished the hundred meter dash in ten point ninety one seconds, the two hundred meter dash in twenty one point fifty eight seconds, and the four hundred meter dash in forty five point seven seconds (Kwon). Even though Oscar did not get the opportunity to compete in the Olympics, his prosthetic leg was able to help him function normally. Prosthetics had created a better life for Igor, Oscar, and many others.

Prosthetics are very helpful to those who wear them, but they can be very costly.

There are three different types of prosthetics which most amputees would opt to get. They would either get a cosmetic arm, a split hook prosthetic, or a myoelectric arm (Turner). These might sound extremely different in their creation, but all prosthetics are made with the same general formatting. About two weeks after the amputee’s surgery they would be given a mold as well as a socket. After that there would be a check socket fitting to make sure the prosthetic will be able to fit them or not (Nerem). When the mold is complete the socket will have to be taken out of the mold (Turner). There are three ways they could take it out which is either by buffers, a hammer, or by air compressors (Nerem). Even though it may seem easy to create a prosthetic, there is lots of precision and planning that goes into creating one.

The process of creating a prosthetic seems very simple, but there are many minor details that go into the creation of a prosthetic as well as its cost. In creation of a prosthetic there are two main challenges that have to be overcome. The first obstacle is designing the actual prosthetic. Even though the technology has improved over the decades, prosthetics still have to be adjusted regularly which costs a lot of money (Nathan). The second obstacle is how the user will be able to control the prosthetic (Nerem). Myoelectric systems do help with that problem, but it is best suited for upper body limbs rather than the lower body (Nathan). There may be many problems in the creation and cost of a prosthetic, but in the end what really matters is that the prosthetic will bring joy to the user and would give them another chance at living their life the way they want to.

Through this research I have learnt that prosthetics are essential to an amputee’s life, but can also be difficult for an amputee to purchase because of the prices. For example, a myoelectric prosthetic can range from twenty thousand dollars to one hundred thousand dollars in cost (Turner). Prosthetics have evolved significantly over time, yet still have the same structure as they did three centuries ago. All of my research will be applied in my project of creating a model of a prosthetic by using the same material designs as well as the structure of the actual arm. Even though there are many downsides to gaining a prosthetic, there are many bright sides as well. Prosthetics not only help transform an amputee’s physical shape, but also their mental shape. A prosthetic can help that person discover new hobbies which they might have never thought of doing, and they also get a new perspective at life. Despite its lack of cost efficiency and difficulty through the creation process, prosthetics change the lives of their amputees for the better.

Work Cited

“Anesthetic.” Encyclopedia Britannica, November 1, 2018,

https://www.britannica.com/science/anesthetic/Anesthetics-through-history. Accessed

May 2, 2020.

Bell, Mark. “The History of Prosthetics.” UNYQ, September 21, 2015,

http://unyq.com/the-history-of-prosthetics/. Accessed April 2, 2020.

Kwon, Amos. “Life & Limb: The Evolution of Prosthetics.” Gear Patrol, August 1, 2012,

https://gearpatrol.com/2012/08/01/life-limb-the-evolution-of-prosthetics/. Accessed April 6, 2020.

Nerem, Robert. “The Emergence of Bioengineering.” National Academy of Engineering,

December 3, 2008, https://www.nae.edu/7543/TheEmergenceofBioengineering. Accessed

January 31, 2020.

Nathan, Stuart. “Future Prosthetic towards the bionic human.” The Engineer, January 4, 2018,

https://www.theengineer.co.uk/future-prosthetic/. Accessed April 4, 2020.

Tsai, Diane. “A Prosthetic Hand that can Feel.” TIME Magazine, November 16, 2015,

https://time.com/4104723/a-prosthetic-hand-that-can-feel/. Accessed February 18, 2020.

Turner, Rhonda. “Prosthetics Costs: The High Price of Prosthetic Limbs.” Disabled World,

November 8, 2018, https://www.disabled-world.com/assistivedevices/prostheses/prosthetics-costs.php. Accessed April 8, 2020.