Prosthetics

            Our senses are what connect us to the world around us, and in a way, make us whole and fully able to interact with our surroundings. So many mundane tasks are done daily without much thought, picking up a water bottle, unscrewing the cap, keeping it in your grip as you take a sip. Those of us with hands are privileged enough to not have to think much about such a small task. But for those who have lost their hands, what we may think of as trivial may actually be a struggle. The sense of touch and freedom to grasp that most of us can enjoy so readily, is not available to some people. Akhtar and his team have developed a myoelectric prosthetic hand for those people in low-income areas who may not be able to afford prosthetics, using 3D printing. His model is light and effective as well as produced very cheap. It can even be self-assembled one piece at a time. They did not use the tendon-driven design that is more common but simplified the joint actuation method. The Tact hand they created could grasp different objects with little or no assistance. The mass of the device is distributed over softer tissues rather than the skeletal system but because of its low mass it can more likely be used with lesser associated fatigue and pain.

            In a related article from CBS news, two studies are discussed. One is from Swedish scientists who created a mind-controlled prosthetic hand for a man who lost his arm 10 years ago. It was the first in the country that is directly connected to the bone, nerves and muscles using a surgical process called osseointegration. In the second study discussed in the article, the prosthetic hands had increased sensory perception. The subject was able to recognize the sensation of touching a cotton ball due to electrical signals transmitted to nerves in his arm and brain by a computer. Also with this new technology, the phantom pain the subjects had experienced decreased and almost vanished.

            The advancements in the article and the development of Tact are for different purposes since the article discusses higher end prosthetics and the Tact is designed for efficiency along with cost effectiveness. Everyone should have the right to the full human experience (which hands are an integral part of) and be able to grasp objects and perform certain tasks on their own. I think it is incredible what these researchers have provided for people who have essentially lost a part of themselves and have now been able to get it back. It is amazing to see the impact research can have in the lives of these people. While none of these prosthetics may be as ideal as a real hand, we are certainly bridging the gap and getting closer to a world where even those without hands can feel the same as everyone else.

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. Retrieved from https://luc.app.box.com/s/4c031c26bsh2bj3619si/1/2926647381/27826615704/1

Blaszczak-Boxe, A. (2014, Oct 8). Mind-controlled prosthetic limbs let patients "feel" objects. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cutting-edge-prosthetic-limbs-transform-amputees-lives/