The Pirates of Prosthetics: Peg Legs and Hooks
Stereotypical images of pirates show old ideas of prosthetic limbs.Copyright 2006 J.J., Wikimedia Commons http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piratey,_vector_version.svg
Students are introduced to prosthetics—history, purpose and benefits, main components, main types, materials, control methods, modern examples—including modern materials used to make replacement body parts and the engineering design considerations to develop prostheses. They learn how engineers and medical doctors work together to improve the lives of people with amputations and the challenges faced when designing new prostheses with functional and cosmetic criteria and constraints. A PowerPoint® presentation and two worksheets are provided.
Human bodies are able to withstand great forces and destroy unwanted foreign bacteria. However, the body can only handle so much. Sometimes, the effects of car accidents, war, animal attacks and bacterial infections cause excessive trauma with the only means of saving a person's life being amputation. Biomedical engineers and doctors work together to continually improve and creatively invent amazing prosthetic devices to enable people to complete daily life tasks efficiently and effectively.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- List reasons why human body limb amputation may be necessary or may occur.
- Explain factors considered by engineers and medical doctors when designing prostheses.
- Explain why certain materials might be chosen over others for fabricating specific prostheses.
- Explain differences in criteria and constraints when designing replacement limbs for amputations with and without joints.