Next Level Prosthetics

There are many reasons that a person can lose a limb. Whether it be in a warzone or simply a pregnancy complication, all types of people may be looking for a prosthetic to replace their missing arm. Unfortunately, Dr. Dumanian, doctor of plastic surgery at Northwestern Medicine, found some problems for prosthetics and that was that you can only move one joint at a time, and it is controlled by the wrong muscle signals. It is quite difficult to control a fake arm from the muscles in your torso. The muscles in your torso are big and non-specific compared to those in your hand and forearm which are needed to perform much smaller actions. Dr. Dumanian’s response was a nerve transfer. He decided to use the signals that the intact nerve perpetuates within the muscle. Muscles have an even stronger signal to be detected through the skin, since the nerves are so deep. Therefore, he connects the old nerve to 4 muscles in the pectoralis. The prosthetic detects the pattern of signals and transfers it into motion. This is called Targeted Muscle Reinnervation and will give the user a greater range of motion and the ability to reach normal function.

Prosthetics are a big business and are even making changes for children to have a better experience despite their circumstance. Open bionics has paired with Disney to provide cost effective prosthetics for children, and the impact is working functional limbs to help build their strength. The founder of Open Bionics commented, “The power of these prosthetics is that the public perception is completely different. All of a sudden they’re not being asked how they lost their hand, they’re being asked where they got their cool robot hand.” Huge advancements are being made in the technology of prosthetics at the nerve and muscle level but also for the lives of those who need them.

References

Kuiken TA, Dumanian GA, Lipschutz RD, Miller LA, Stubblefield KA. (2004). The use of targeted muscle reinnervation for improved myoelectricprosthesis control in bilateral shoulder disarticulation amputee. Prosthet Orthot Int. 28. 245-53.

Locker, M. (2015). Disney Is Helping a Start-Up Make Awesome Star Wars-Inspired Prosthetics For Kids. Time.