As
time passes we continue to make advancements in the medical field. We have
reached a point where nearly anything seems possible. The study conducted by
Slade on the myoelectric prosthetic hand is proof that with science the lives
of people with specific needs can be met. Slade et al discussed: “There are at
least 30 million people with amputations living in low-income countries, 80% of
whom cannot afford prosthetic care… [these people] need a prosthetic hand that
is not only functional but also affordable, easy to manufacture, and simple to
maintain.” Earlier mechanical prosthetics have shown to work but they are
limited in what they can do—the tact hand is able to grip a wide range of
objects and allows the person utilizing it to pinch and grip small objects. What
is most astounding about these prosthetics is the use of myoelectric signals from
contracted muscles being picked up by electrodes signaling the individual
fingers on the tact hand. The use of neuroscience is opening doors and
immensely aiding those that have amputated limbs.
In
addition to this door being opened, there is word that a full body transplant
may be possible in coming years. Ian Samper reports “Sergio Canavero, a doctor
in Turin, Italy, has drawn up plans to graft a living person’s head on to a
donor body and claims the procedures needed to carry out the operation are not
far off.” This idea seems possible but there are millions of questions as to
how this will work. There are so many things that can go wrong mentally and
physically with the participant. If the surgery is unsuccessful there is an
extremely high chance that the patient opting to be a part of the experiment
would die as such a surgery has been performed before and failed. “In 1970,
Robert White led a team at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, US,
that tried to transplant the head of one monkey on to the body of another. The
surgeons stopped short of a full spinal cord transfer, so the monkey could not
move its body.” (Sampler) However, if such a feat was conquered and worked
there would be endless possibilities for those paralyzed from the waist down.
Also if full body
transplants were to become common, successful limb transplants would surely
follow (currently limb transplants do not allow the recipient to gain full/most
function). Of course there would be a lot of challenges awaiting medical
professionals and scientists if this were the case. “The history of
transplantation is full of cases where people hated their new appendages and had
them removed. The psychological burden of emerging from anaesthetic with an
entirely new body is firmly in uncharted territory” How would the connection
between the donor appendage work on a recipients body? Would there be a
psychological struggle to overcome and not liking one’s new limb? Many of these
problems may be visible with mere prosthetics such as the tact hand. As with
many handicaps individuals sometimes feel that society is attempting to “fix”
them and refuse to use any prosthetics or “help” because they feel “broken”. Using a prosthetic is also not for everyone,
some may hate them as they feel odd using them. From a psychological and
medical standpoint it can be said that prosthetics and other alternatives are
the best option right now because transplantations—specifically body
transplants “are an overwhelming project, the possibility of it happening is
very unlikely,” Harry Goldsmith, professor of neurological surgery at the
University of California, Davis, told the magazine.” (Sampler)
References:
P. Slade, A. Akhtar, M. Nguyen, T. Bretl. (2015).
Tact: Design and performance of an open-source, affordable, myoelectric
prosthetic hand. The International Conference on Robotics and Automation,
Seattle, WA.
Sampler, I. (2015, February 25). First Full Body Transplant is Two Years
Away, Surgeon Claims. Retrieved April 30, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/25/first-full-body-transplant-two-years-away-surgeon-claim
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