When someone uses the term “prosthetics”, what is the first thing to come to mind? Is it an advanced robotic arm, or a simple plastic prosthetic hand, no more complicated than a mannequin’s? These shouldn’t necessarily be such opposites, but it is almost certainly true that the latter is more common than the former. Prosthetics have come an extremely long way since their induction. Pirates and peg legs tend to give us a reminder of how far we’ve come since the dark times where a prosthetic was a scrap of wood or metal where a fully functional hand should be. Even now however, people everywhere are receiving a raw deal. Prosthetics have never been better, but never have they been as expensive as now. It is commonplace for one to expect a
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It was made of bronze and Iron, possessing a wooden core made for a below the knee amputee. In the dark ages there was little advancement in the way of prosthetics, mostly just simple hooks and peg legs, many of these prosthetics were made to aid those wounded in battle or otherwise. The renaissance however was when we began to see real improvement and attempts at optimizing a more hand-like prosthetic for those missing limbs. However, as is still common today, the only ones to possess these hands were those who achieved them through wealth or fame. In “A Brief History of Prosthetics” by Kim Norton, she mentions a recording from around 1508 about a “Spanish navy admiral who had a rigged silver arm capable of removing his hat, opening his purse, and signing his name.” (Norton, 2) Obviously in a time without nervous system input and electricity this was a highly complex mechanical device that a peasant of the time could never hope to have. These prosthetics were highly special cases, but as time went on and the American civil war occurred, many battles and many lost limbs resulted in American scientists entering the field of prosthetics. Even in World War I there was discussion of how prosthetics should come about for wounded soldiers. Given this rising issue the surgeon general of the United States created the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association. Finally, “around World War II the American government pressured the military sector to invest more capital into the functionality of prosthetics for wounded soldiers over that of weapon advancement.” (Norton,
It was made of bronze and Iron, possessing a wooden core made for a below the knee amputee. In the dark ages there was little advancement in the way of prosthetics, mostly just simple hooks and peg legs, many of these prosthetics were made to aid those wounded in battle or otherwise. The renaissance however was when we began to see real improvement and attempts at optimizing a more hand-like prosthetic for those missing limbs. However, as is still common today, the only ones to possess these hands were those who achieved them through wealth or fame. In “A Brief History of Prosthetics” by Kim Norton, she mentions a recording from around 1508 about a “Spanish navy admiral who had a rigged silver arm capable of removing his hat, opening his purse, and signing his name.” (Norton, 2) Obviously in a time without nervous system input and electricity this was a highly complex mechanical device that a peasant of the time could never hope to have. These prosthetics were highly special cases, but as time went on and the American civil war occurred, many battles and many lost limbs resulted in American scientists entering the field of prosthetics. Even in World War I there was discussion of how prosthetics should come about for wounded soldiers. Given this rising issue the surgeon general of the United States created the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association. Finally, “around World War II the American government pressured the military sector to invest more capital into the functionality of prosthetics for wounded soldiers over that of weapon advancement.” (Norton,