Advanced Prosthetics Provide More Functional Limbs

Abstract

In an experiment at the University of Pittsburgh, a woman with quadriplegia uses her thoughts to operate a robotic arm to eat a piece of chocolate (WodlingerBet al. JNeural Eng. doi:10.1088 /1741-2560/12/1/016011 [publ ished online December 16, 2014]). In a study at Case Western Reserve University, a man who lost his hand in an accident senses the texture of a cotton ball swept along the back of his prosthetichand(TanDWetal.SciTranslMed. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3008669 [published online October 8, 2014]). These remarkable feats demonstratewhat advances in biomedical engineering have made possible forpeople livingwith limb lossorparalysis, and the technologiesbeingdevelopedat researchcentersacross thecountryare lightyearsaheadoftheprostheticsthathavebeen used for decades. “New technologies and new ideas” are driving research, saidToddKuiken,MD,PhD, director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago’s (RIC’s) Center for Bionic Medicine. What’s more, the many military personnelwho returned from IraqandAfghanistan with missing limbs have heightened public awareness, he noted. “Whenyouseewoundedwarriors comingbackwithmissing limbs, it adds to theurgency,” he said. Advances in prosthetics are especially beneficial for people who have had an arm amputated because it is more technically challenging to design a prosthetic arm that workswell than it is to createa leg that functionswell, according toPhillipStevens,MEd, CPO,presidentof theAmericanAcademyof Orthotists and Prosthetists. If they do become widely available, theseprosthetic advancesmayhelp the approximately 185 000 people in the United States who each year have a limb amputated. In2014, anestimated2millionpeople in the United States weremissing 1 ormore limbs (Ma VY et al. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2014;95[5]:986-995), and that number is projected to increase toabout3.6millionby 2050(Ziegler-GrahamKetal.ArchPhysMed Rehabil. 2008;89:422-429). Vascular diseaseaccounts for54%ofamputations,while another 45% of US amputees experienced limb loss due to an accident or injury; cancer accounts for less than 2% of amputations (Ziegler-GrahamKetal.ArchPhysMed Rehabil. 2008;89:422-429).