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Cybernetic Prosthetics for Amputees
A. J. Perkins writes "Returning amputees from Iraq are getting computer-driven artifical limbs allowing greater balance and mobility. These futuristic limbs have hydraulic pumps visible through its clear plastic shell. They are loaded with an on-board CPU and rechargable batteries. The Utah3 Arm, which allows simultaneous motion in the elbow, hand and wrist, offering movement old prosthetics could not. These are coupled with the SensorSpeedHand, which has electronic sensors in the fingertips that make it easier to grip objects. The C-Leg monitors motion 50 times per second to assist with balance."
For people in the industry this is OLD news ... the CLeg has been around for ages.
t em.asp?id=140
... news should be new.
http://www.ottobockus.com/about/press_room_view_i
Many alternatives from different companies exist for the CLeg.
The myoelectric stuff is at least cool, but the CLeg?
Come on
Ouch
hegot 2 prosthetics, a manual version and this computer version. he is using the simple clamp prosthetic 'cause the computerized version breaks too often and the batteries dont last long. The one he actually uses just has a cord that goes to his shoulder, when he wants the clamp to open, he just flexes his arm a certain way. He put his computerized arm in the closet after it keept running down..
Supposedly the "average wound" in this war is worse than in any previous war, partly because most of it is done by explosives rather than bullets, partly because of improvements in body armor for the head and torso, and partly because improved medical technology is saving a lot of people who would have just died in any previous war.
BTW, you can see the overall casualty counts (wounds and deaths separately) at globalsecurity.org. (Notice the running-average plots at the bottom, which show the trends.)
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
You get your leg amputated after your second tour, get an artifical leg, do rehab, then...get sent back to Iraq for tour #3?
Hopefully soldiers returning to combat after amputation have volunteered to do so. Imagine getting sent back again involunarily after losing a leg.
These soldiers deserve the best gear and care we can give them. Tragically they're not getting it, especially critical after-care, follow-ups, meds, counseling, etc. Clinics and a few hospitals are closing, and new soliders are having many medical benefits phased out because their incomes are judged to be "too high." We're not talking Generals here, we're talking folks that make under $40k a year.
Take a look at the unclassified stats for WIAs (pdf).
Now get yourself injured badly enough then you get medical discharge if the military cannot find some sort of lighter duty for you to do to finish out your time.
Its going to be a *LONG* time before this happens.
Regardless of how superior they get, its still going to be a pain in the ass just to attach them, let alone all the other biologicals problems that have little to do with the machine.
I have a degenerative disease that is killing a few joints and I've been told I'll probably have to have my knee replaced if I don't stop abusing it (at this point, abusing it means riding my biked 20 - 30 miles a week in the summer -- and thats down from the 100 I had been doing, and I'm *STILL* a light weight compared to most of the folks I know who bike on a regular occasion).
Anywho, a good friend works at the VA and draws my blood for me regularly and while I'm there, I occasionally get to talk with some of the veterans...over the last year, they have increasingly been younger guys my age and now a days, I almost look clean cut enough to fit in without one of the administrators getting upset that she's doing this (even though its always on her break, lest someone accuses me of helping steal from the US Gov).
But after talking with one amputee, I'll never want to even joke about the prostesises again. For the CLeg, ya have to have your leg blown off from above the knee (actually I learned that from Doonsbury), but they also say that there is a nasty bone graft you have to go through to attach it. it always gets infected because even though its titanium, its still wearing against the bone in a way that can't be stopped. Secondly, you will always have an open wound -- the skin in this area is not meant to simply pucker up around something sticking out of it. Think of any naturally occuring holes in youy body and think of how it goes from regular skin to something that is a little more sealable. Ya don't have that with this. So, expect infections in this all the time too.
I was joking with the one guy I met that it would make my life much easier but was given a reality check quickly. Given the rate of decay on my knee, I'll probably have to have something replaced in the next 5 to 10 years (maybe longer if I felt like sitting at home and wasting my life), but I think I'll skip the prostesis for the moment and just see if they can replace the bones and joints -- something simple. I have no doubt that replacement arms or legs will be superior to the parts coming off, but until we get the rest of the parts they have to connect with upgraded (maybe just the brain in a jar), I think I'm only going to look at this as technology to be used in unavoidable circumstances.
[I]f they did, watch your insurance rates skyrocket.
The United States Military provides health-care to its members. So, if they were providing C-legs and the like, then it wouldn't affect any civilian's insurance rates because they are wholly seperate entities. This is much like regular insurance, if you have insurance through company A, and I have insurance through company B, my getting expensive surgery doesn't affect your insurance rates.
Black and grey are both shades of white.
Here's a link to the website of the company that makes the Utah Arm 3: http://www.utaharm.com/products.htm.