As a guitarist, one of the most terrifying things for me ever was getting a bionic shoulder. It's not an intelligent device but it's titanium in there instead of me because the bone was necrotizing (i.e. dying from previous injury). The science has gone far beyond mechanical prosthetics of that nature and on toward intelligent prosthetics for the hand, which is to say genius prosthetics since the hand is the most complex physical structure we have got. (Science Daily: Candidates for bionic hand reconstruction)
In the study, the researchers wanted to determine which people make the best candidates for replacement of the hand with prosthesis. My old deepest fear was the shoulder prosthesis which worked amazingly well and the new deepest fear is the bionic hand so they have my interest.
Bionic hand? No longer only an image conjured by science fiction, bionic hands return functionality in cases of traumatic nerve and muscle loss. Certainly something to consider if you've lost your hand in an accident, but what if you still retain your hand, albeit a useless one? What would make a person voluntarily trade in a biological hand composed of flesh, blood, and bone for a prosthesis consisting of wires and synthetic material? And would the results be well worth the loss?
...
An answer to these questions can be found in a new Journal of Neurosurgery article, "Algorithm for bionic hand reconstruction in patients with global brachial plexopathies," by Laura A. Hruby, M.D., and colleagues from the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Applied Sciences FH Campus (Vienna). These researchers offer a treatment algorithm, or protocol, for identifying patients with global (flail arm) brachial plexus injuries who are likely to benefit from trading in their insensate and nonfunctional hand for a myoelectric prosthetic device.
- SD
The first paragraph is effectively the 'flash screen' and most of it you probably know already with likely all of us sharing that same final question.
The researchers go from that to describing specifically the problem they're trying to solve beyond the obvious replacement of the hand but that's likely to only be of interest to medical readers so we will skip to the punchline.
The authors report outcomes in the five patients in whom sufficient follow-up was obtained (at least 3 months after final prosthetic fitting). At the time the paper was written, the other 11 patients were still moving through earlier steps of the algorithm. Functional outcomes were assessed using the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP), and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire. Significant improvements in hand function were seen in all five patients and continued throughout the follow-up period.
- SD
The above doesn't give us much about whatever the bionic hand actually conferred but we do see this much that it reduced pain.
Interestingly, deafferentation pain (a chronic pain syndrome often experienced by patients with global brachial plexus injuries), which had been severe in three of the five patients, lessened after patients became accustomed to working with the bionic hand. According to the authors, "patients reported a subjectively observed correlation between daily wearing time of the prosthesis and pain reduction. Thus when the prosthetic device could not be worn due to regular maintenance, pain was reported to increase again within days."
- SD
The interested student is always invited to refer back to the original article to validate my interpretation of it and to verify whether I have omitted anything for false cause. Both aspects are regarded as anathema here but the link is so you can see for yourself.
Since we really didn't get a 'big bang' payoff out of replacement of the hand beyond likely amelioration of pain symptoms, how about touch sensitivity. (Science Daily: Amputee feels texture with a bionic fingertip)
You know the extraordinary sensitivity of your fingers and, in my own context, it's feeling like I feel every molecule of a string and the fingerboard of the guitar as I hold the note while it vibrates. Apply that sensitivity to whatever lurid act you like but you know what I mean and it's astounding to see prostheses approaching that.
Detail of the bionic fingertip electronics that restored sensations of texture to amputee Dennis Aabo Sørensen, and the plastic gratings with rough and smooth textures.
Credit: Hillary Sanctuary / EPFL
- SD
The picture doesn't reveal any aspect of the aesthetics of the actual prosthesis but there you have the capability of it.
You may wish to pursue this further and you will find there is astonishing research take place in this field and this is only part of it. These prostheses still won't get a musician playing again but it seems the distinct possibility that one day they might when the acceleration of capability of the prostheses is so rapid.
In the study, the researchers wanted to determine which people make the best candidates for replacement of the hand with prosthesis. My old deepest fear was the shoulder prosthesis which worked amazingly well and the new deepest fear is the bionic hand so they have my interest.
Bionic hand? No longer only an image conjured by science fiction, bionic hands return functionality in cases of traumatic nerve and muscle loss. Certainly something to consider if you've lost your hand in an accident, but what if you still retain your hand, albeit a useless one? What would make a person voluntarily trade in a biological hand composed of flesh, blood, and bone for a prosthesis consisting of wires and synthetic material? And would the results be well worth the loss?
...
An answer to these questions can be found in a new Journal of Neurosurgery article, "Algorithm for bionic hand reconstruction in patients with global brachial plexopathies," by Laura A. Hruby, M.D., and colleagues from the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Applied Sciences FH Campus (Vienna). These researchers offer a treatment algorithm, or protocol, for identifying patients with global (flail arm) brachial plexus injuries who are likely to benefit from trading in their insensate and nonfunctional hand for a myoelectric prosthetic device.
- SD
The first paragraph is effectively the 'flash screen' and most of it you probably know already with likely all of us sharing that same final question.
The researchers go from that to describing specifically the problem they're trying to solve beyond the obvious replacement of the hand but that's likely to only be of interest to medical readers so we will skip to the punchline.
The authors report outcomes in the five patients in whom sufficient follow-up was obtained (at least 3 months after final prosthetic fitting). At the time the paper was written, the other 11 patients were still moving through earlier steps of the algorithm. Functional outcomes were assessed using the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP), and the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire. Significant improvements in hand function were seen in all five patients and continued throughout the follow-up period.
- SD
The above doesn't give us much about whatever the bionic hand actually conferred but we do see this much that it reduced pain.
Interestingly, deafferentation pain (a chronic pain syndrome often experienced by patients with global brachial plexus injuries), which had been severe in three of the five patients, lessened after patients became accustomed to working with the bionic hand. According to the authors, "patients reported a subjectively observed correlation between daily wearing time of the prosthesis and pain reduction. Thus when the prosthetic device could not be worn due to regular maintenance, pain was reported to increase again within days."
- SD
The interested student is always invited to refer back to the original article to validate my interpretation of it and to verify whether I have omitted anything for false cause. Both aspects are regarded as anathema here but the link is so you can see for yourself.
Since we really didn't get a 'big bang' payoff out of replacement of the hand beyond likely amelioration of pain symptoms, how about touch sensitivity. (Science Daily: Amputee feels texture with a bionic fingertip)
You know the extraordinary sensitivity of your fingers and, in my own context, it's feeling like I feel every molecule of a string and the fingerboard of the guitar as I hold the note while it vibrates. Apply that sensitivity to whatever lurid act you like but you know what I mean and it's astounding to see prostheses approaching that.
Detail of the bionic fingertip electronics that restored sensations of texture to amputee Dennis Aabo Sørensen, and the plastic gratings with rough and smooth textures.
Credit: Hillary Sanctuary / EPFL
- SD
The picture doesn't reveal any aspect of the aesthetics of the actual prosthesis but there you have the capability of it.
You may wish to pursue this further and you will find there is astonishing research take place in this field and this is only part of it. These prostheses still won't get a musician playing again but it seems the distinct possibility that one day they might when the acceleration of capability of the prostheses is so rapid.
No comments:
Post a Comment