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Brilliant thoughts come to mind at the most unexpected moment. Let us recall some fearless inventors who have moved the progress of prosthetic technology. Easton La Chapelle, for example, decided to create a new prosthetic arm when he got bored in class. As a result of his searches, he found a cheap alternative to expensive prosthetics that are currently available.
The history of limb prosthetics is littered with such brilliant solutions.
The world's first functional prosthetic body parts are two examples of artificial fingers from ancient Egypt. These fingers appeared before the Roman leg prosthesis, which before them was considered the first - Roman Capula Leg, "the foot of the Roman Capule" - for several hundred years. Their functionality makes them unique. Early prostheses were mostly decorative, but these Egyptian fingers are considered the first example of a true prosthesis.
"The thumb is believed to carry about 40% of the body weight and, along with it, the responsibility for moving forward," says Dr. Jackie Finch of the University of Manchester. Modern finger prostheses are made only after intensive study of the individual's walk using cameras and other surveillance equipment.
Dr. Finch chose two volunteers to test the fingers and, to their surprise, they were very comfortable. "My findings convincingly show that both of these designs were able to function as a replacement for lost fingers and can indeed be classified as prosthetic. If this is so, then, it turns out, the first cornerstones of this branch of medicine were laid by the feet of the ancient Egyptians. "
Dark Ages Projects
In general, artificial limbs have not progressed much since. Nevertheless, this iron prosthesis, owned by Gotts von Berlichingen (1480 - 1562), the German knight, serving the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, shows how exactly in the prosthesis appeared loops.
Artificial limbs like these were expensive, but they allowed owners who had lost a limb to continue their combat career. The fingers on the hinges let you raise the shield, hold the reins or even the arrow. This finiteness for von Berlichingen was made by the weapons master.
Centuries later, a huge number of victims of the American Civil War led to the demand for artificial limbs skyrocketing. Many veterans started developing their own prosthetic devices in response to the limited possibilities offered by the limbs.
James Hanger, one of the first people with amputated limbs of the war, patented the "Hänger prosthesis". Samuel Decker (pictured) also made his own artificial limb and became a pioneer of modular prosthesis design.
In the design in the photo, Decker has a spoon attached to his mechanical arms, indicating the ability to perform all daily activities with prostheses. Today, prosthetic designs require more than simply replacing a lost limb, they must offer young disabled people a certain return of abilities. But the generation of Decker's time for the first time in history could allow disabled people to live a full life.
In the 1900s, the pioneers of prosthetic design began to develop the idea of specialized artificial limbs. Projects of prostheses became more and more special and less and less purely decorative.
The overlapping tips on the thumb and little finger on the image below served one specific purpose. This is an example of the artificial hand of a pianist who performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1906. Spreading fingers allowed her to take one octave entirely. Despite her moment of fame, the name of the pianist is now unknown. The Museum of Sciences, in which this specimen is now stored, has done everything possible to reveal its identity.
Modern methods
For the first time, prostheses were put into mass production in response to the huge number of victims in the First World War. In the US, the army hospital. Walter Reed produced many artificial limbs for returning veterans. This example demonstrates the welding tool and other tools integrated into the dentures for disabled people who returned to work after the war.
And not only to work, however. The collection of the National Museum of Medicine and Health of the United States also has a pad for playing baseball. Army Walter Reed Hospital is still the center of the production of prostheses in the United States, after a hundred years.
After the First World War, technology continued to develop. DV Dorens invented an artificial arm with a capture shortly before the First World War, and after the war it became popular among workers who could return to work using a prosthesis to capture and manipulate objects. This is one of the few projects that have remained relatively unchanged in the last century. Dorrens demonstrated his versatility in the 1930s, driving a car using his prosthesis.
In the UK, Queen Mary's Hospital in Rohampton became the center for the manufacture of prostheses during the Second World War. It opened in 1939. In the first year, 10,987 war participants turned to the center and 16,251 artificial limbs were sent by mail. At the height of the war, the factory was expanded. However, due to the progress of surgical methods, the treatment of infections and the availability of blood transfusion after the First World War, the need for amputation was significantly reduced.
The article is based on materials .
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