Medical Aids and Devices

Prostheses (plural) Prosthesis An artificial extension that replaces a missing body part

Typically used to replace a missing body part or enhance a defective body part Lost by injury (trauma) Missing from birth (congenital)

Common uses: artificial heart valves

Artificial organs Man-made device that is implanted into a human to replace a natural organ to restore a specific function Not external (ex. dialysis machine) but internal

An extremely expensive process, used for: Life support to prevent imminent death while awaiting a transplant (e.g. artificial heart) Dramatic improvement of the patient's ability for self care (e.g. artificial limb) Improvement of the patient's ability to interact socially (e.g. cochlear implant) Cosmetic restoration after cancer surgery or accident

Examples of prostheses

Artificial heart valves

Artificial heart

dentures

Artificial eyes

Artificial valves Especially at ends of stomach, to help with function of sphincters Used for esophageal cancer, reflux disease

Artificial ear Cochlear implants to help with hearing or cosmetic repair

Prosthetic enhancement 2008, Oscar Pistorius was disqualified as an olympic runner due to the “unfair mechanical advantage” of his prosthesis

Mechanical parts could soon surpass human equivalents in their efficiency…

Part of biomechatronics: the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control lost by trauma, disease, or defect

Biosensors detect what the user wants and relay that information through the user’s nervous/skeletal system to a controller The controller located inside the device will than control the device, sensing the limb’s position and force

Amanda Kitts is learning to use her new limb…

Claudia Mitchell, former Marine and amputee, has tested a prosthetic arm developed by Dr. Todd Kuiken at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. A plastic surgeon, Dr. Gregory Dumainian at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago re-directed the nerves that control her missing arm to her chest. The nerves re-grew close to the skin of her chest. Tiny electrodes on her skin pick up the electrical activity of these nerves and send signals to the motors in the arm. She is able to control the arm's movements by thinking about it. As of now, the prosthetic arm is not truly biomechatronic in that signals only go one way, from Claudia to the arm. Dr. Kuiken is working on the next step of having the arm provide feedback to her, including sensations such as pain and pressure.

Greg Gadson lost both his legs in a roadside bomb in Iraq and is now “meshing my 43-year-old body with a machine”

Pacemakers

Brain pacemaker Sends electrical impulses to brain to relieve depression, epilepsy, tremors

Artificial pacemaker Electronic device that helps to keep the heart contractions regular

The Future Natural-feeling neuroprostheses Re-training the brain to control a prosthesis Artificial eyes Using circuits to translate messages Using solar panels….