Prosthetic limbs have been giving people second chances at life for the last 150 years. In those 150 years prosthetic limbs have come a long way, but there is still many problems. Out of the many problems in the prosthetic limb industry, there is three main problems. The main problems include making the product available for the mass market, price of each limb, and the last problem for prosthetic limbs is advancing the technology. Although prosthetic limbs are essential for some of the people in the world, there are still many problems with them, and that needs to be changed. The life of an amputee is hard, but producing to mass markets, lowering the price, and advancing the technology will make their life easier.
One part of the prosthetic …show more content…
It is not an easy task to learn how to use a prosthetic limb, but it's almost a bigger task to buy one. For example richard van As lost four of his finger on the job in South Africa (Mraz 32). After the injury Richard realized how expensive prosthetics were, in fact “commercial prosthetics cost too much, $10,000 or more per digit”(Mraz 32). Expensive prosthetics lead to some people in need not having the opportunity to get a second chance at having a limb. After the injury occurred Richard started to engineer his own prosthetics. Richard soon found a theatrical prop designer, Ivan Own, who specializes in hands, and teamed up and used the 3D printer to make cheap prosthetic limbs( Mraz 32). “It might not have all the functions of a $10,000 prosthetic fingers, but then the Robohand only needs about $150 in parts”(Mraz 32). The 3D printers can only be used for small limbs like hands, fingers, and toes. The 3D printer is a major stepping stone in the process of making prosthetic limbs …show more content…
All of the prosthetic legs used to be passive. The way passive legs work is that the user of the limb has to swing the leg forward to walk. The newer legs use technology called bionic prosthetics devices. “In the last few years Goldfarb and his colleagues have developed the first bionic lower limb prosthetic with powered knee and ankle joints that operate in unison”(“prosthetic limb”). With the new bionic legs the user of the leg has much less work to move the leg. It can help make patterned activities, such as sitting, standing, and walking on an incline or stairs(“prosthetic limb”). The new activities that prosthetic users can do compared to 10 years ago is astonishing. The new bionic limbs make it more comfortable to walk “and it helps patients to wall with a more comfortable and smooth gait” said Michael Goldfarb(“prosthetic limb”). This has been a large step in the right direction for the prosthetic legs, but more needs to be done. The new bionic legs are still not yet suitable for unpatterned movement such as dancing(“prosthetic limb”). The prosthetic arms are a step behind the legs. “He's mastered the use of his prosthetic feet, playing offense on his high school soccer team and sprinting for the track team. But artificial arms, he says, were annoying because they were heavy and made his own arms sweaty. He's adapted to life without them”(Weir 10). Designing prosthetic arms is very
One part of the prosthetic …show more content…
It is not an easy task to learn how to use a prosthetic limb, but it's almost a bigger task to buy one. For example richard van As lost four of his finger on the job in South Africa (Mraz 32). After the injury Richard realized how expensive prosthetics were, in fact “commercial prosthetics cost too much, $10,000 or more per digit”(Mraz 32). Expensive prosthetics lead to some people in need not having the opportunity to get a second chance at having a limb. After the injury occurred Richard started to engineer his own prosthetics. Richard soon found a theatrical prop designer, Ivan Own, who specializes in hands, and teamed up and used the 3D printer to make cheap prosthetic limbs( Mraz 32). “It might not have all the functions of a $10,000 prosthetic fingers, but then the Robohand only needs about $150 in parts”(Mraz 32). The 3D printers can only be used for small limbs like hands, fingers, and toes. The 3D printer is a major stepping stone in the process of making prosthetic limbs …show more content…
All of the prosthetic legs used to be passive. The way passive legs work is that the user of the limb has to swing the leg forward to walk. The newer legs use technology called bionic prosthetics devices. “In the last few years Goldfarb and his colleagues have developed the first bionic lower limb prosthetic with powered knee and ankle joints that operate in unison”(“prosthetic limb”). With the new bionic legs the user of the leg has much less work to move the leg. It can help make patterned activities, such as sitting, standing, and walking on an incline or stairs(“prosthetic limb”). The new activities that prosthetic users can do compared to 10 years ago is astonishing. The new bionic limbs make it more comfortable to walk “and it helps patients to wall with a more comfortable and smooth gait” said Michael Goldfarb(“prosthetic limb”). This has been a large step in the right direction for the prosthetic legs, but more needs to be done. The new bionic legs are still not yet suitable for unpatterned movement such as dancing(“prosthetic limb”). The prosthetic arms are a step behind the legs. “He's mastered the use of his prosthetic feet, playing offense on his high school soccer team and sprinting for the track team. But artificial arms, he says, were annoying because they were heavy and made his own arms sweaty. He's adapted to life without them”(Weir 10). Designing prosthetic arms is very