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."

Comments

Re:Yay!

[MmmmAqua]

Yeah, parent was a troll, and yeah, this is off topic, but seeing as how I'm sitting here in Baghdad, I just want to point something out:

Nobody here who actually picks up a rifle and goes out looking for bad guys is doing it for anything other than the guys fighting beside him. Don't get yourself all worked up about how we've been duped, and lied to, etc. etc.

We know the score. We know what the real reasons for the war are. There isn't much blind flag-waving Bush-terbation here. But we don't have a choice about when and where we fight; we just have a job to do, and lives to save and take in doing it.

We don't want your pity, and we don't want you using us as martyrs in your protests against the government. We want you to leave us alone to do our jobs, and have some respect for those poor bastards who come home minus an arm or a leg or a hand.

You are ignorant

[gregm]

There are 2 types of diabetes Type 1 which is sometimes also refered to as juvenile diabetes and usually strikes children. My step-son came down with it when he was 3 and it's not because he was fat slob who sat on his ass all day eating candy. Translated it wasn't preventable.

I get so sick and tired if ignorant people whining about their wimpy little Type 2 diabetes and worrying about the possibility of having to give themselves injections. My step son has been doing that for years (actually he's on an insulin pump now which is a wonderful thing). Plus the type 2 people like to try to swap war stories with my stepson (he's now 19). His body produces 0 insulin and was a real treat to deal with through puberty.

I also have an Uncle who was one of te most fit and active people I know... he came down with Type 2 diabetes when he was 60.

So let's not be spreading this "wholly preventable" FUD as it's not true in all cases.

Good and Bad

[atlasheavy]

It's good to hear that returning veterans are being treated better and more rapidly than in the past, and that technological improvements are going to improve their quality of life. Nonetheless, if it wasn't for the failed war policies of this administration, kids our age (and yes, at 22 I definitely consider myself a kid) wouldn't be put into this sort of horribly traumatic situation in the first place.

Mod me down as flamebait or a troll if you want, so be it, slashdot karma isn't worth glorifying the mess our great nation has ended up in due to the arrogance of a small group of people in Washington.

Re:Good and Bad

[nagora]

The best way to avoid wars is to make it clear to all the Saddams and Hitlers that tyranny isn't an accepted form of government, anywhere. Such rulers should be removed from power, using the necessary force.

Perhaps, then, America shouldn't hire people like Saddam to assassinate leaders, and put them in place once the old leader is dead. Perhaps, then, Donald Rumsfeld shouldn't sell people like Saddam biological weapons of mass destruction and perhaps, then, people like George Bush shouldn't send "experts" in to help with the "calibration" of those weapons. Perhaps, in fact, tracing the history of Iraq back to 1919 is simply a handy way of ignoring the actual and immediate fact that these soldiers are dying for a government which caused the problem in Iraq and who decided to attack it on the feeble pretext of the War on Terror in order to, as Wolfowitz's said, secure America's economic future (ie, oil).

A little less pointing the finger at long dead people and their wars and a little more pointing it at the people in power today who are sacrificing their people for money today might help fix this mess.

TWW

Re: Good news

[Black Parrot]

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.)

As cool as the tech is...

[SealBeater]

I bet that he would rather have his leg back.

SealBeater

Return to Combat

[Sean Clifford]

From the article: These improvements allow amputees improved mobility over the Vietnam era, with many limbless veterans already contemplating running, skiing, and even a return to combat, according to veterans officials.

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).

As a prosthetist...

[soulee]

All I can say, is shame on this administration.

Now please, don't get me wrong. We in the field are enjoying the publicy and the chance to show off the advancements of the past fews years. And yes, the advancements in prosthetics technology are slow due to funding and lack of research. But what I'm more concerned about is the need for people like me in this war.

Honestly, when this war began many of us in the industry recieved notices about new patients arriving in as new amputees and we were being asked to write manuals for surgery procedures that are archaic! And endorse the use of out-dated concepts.

It's appauling the way these troops are being handled. They are not recieving optimal surgeries such as the ERTL procedure. Nor are they all recieving C-legs and Utah-arms. Do you have any idea how much these costs?! No. Not every solider will be getting one and if they did, watch your insurance rates skyrocket. It's just not realistic.

All I'm saying is that, thank you for the publicity but you are being lied to. This is not what is honestly happening at clinics. This is a poster pin up to make you feel better about the war and the injuries.

Re:What would be nice...

[clifyt]

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.