It is the devastating reality that nearly two million people are currently living with limb loss in the United States. I am writing this proposal to the Amputee Coalition, because I believe that it is time to research cheaper prosthetics for these two million people. Your average prosthesis can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $50,000, and it isn’t fair to those already possessing a disability. I write this because I plan to work in rehabilitative engineering, and want to build prosthetics that families can easily afford. I hope that this essay will persuade Amputee Coalition to broaden their current research topics to benefit amputees financially.
The reason that I am bringing this to the Amputee Coalition is because since 1986, your mission has been “to reach out to and empower people affected by limb loss to achieve their full potential through education, support, and advocacy, and to promote limb loss prevention.” The coalition has achieved many great things throughout the years including the resource center, Limb Loss Task Force, travel accessibility, and more. One thing that still negatively affects …show more content…
Some of the different kinds we have today include Robotic, Body Powered, Brain-Controlled, and Myoelectric. A robotic prosthesis is already programmed with commands and movements that the limb would normally have, while body powered prosthesis are manual. For instance, a body powered arm moves when your other arm makes a movement that pulls the strap. A brain-controlled prosthetic senses the electrical signals in the brain and in turn attempts to make the desired movement. Along the same lines are the Myoelectric prosthesis that sense the electrical signals from the muscle contractions in the remaining limb. The problems with today’s prosthesis is that not only are some of them wildly expensive, but they are also very heavy, inaccurate, and cannot be used in or near
The reason that I am bringing this to the Amputee Coalition is because since 1986, your mission has been “to reach out to and empower people affected by limb loss to achieve their full potential through education, support, and advocacy, and to promote limb loss prevention.” The coalition has achieved many great things throughout the years including the resource center, Limb Loss Task Force, travel accessibility, and more. One thing that still negatively affects …show more content…
Some of the different kinds we have today include Robotic, Body Powered, Brain-Controlled, and Myoelectric. A robotic prosthesis is already programmed with commands and movements that the limb would normally have, while body powered prosthesis are manual. For instance, a body powered arm moves when your other arm makes a movement that pulls the strap. A brain-controlled prosthetic senses the electrical signals in the brain and in turn attempts to make the desired movement. Along the same lines are the Myoelectric prosthesis that sense the electrical signals from the muscle contractions in the remaining limb. The problems with today’s prosthesis is that not only are some of them wildly expensive, but they are also very heavy, inaccurate, and cannot be used in or near