Bionic Prosthetics Are Nearly Mainstream

Fans of ABC’s hit show Dancing with the Stars watched Amy Purdy, a top ranked professional adaptive snowboarder who lost both legs at age 19 as a result of meningitis, dance this season. Viewers who were unfamiliar with Purdy when the show began watched her effortlessly glide across the dance floor unaware both of her legs were prosthetics.

The ability to perform flexible dance moves is thanks to the current design of prosthetics; advanced plastic and carbon fiber composites create a lighter, durable, and more realistic prosthetic. These prosthetics are dated compared to what scientists are working on today.

Modern Prosthetics

Each device is methodically constructed to fit a person’s specific dimensions and needs. Different types of prosthetics include:

1. Body powered: Prosthetics are attached to the body, either by strapping or suctioning, and the wearer learns to move with the prosthetic, using it in conjunction with their own body’s movements.
2. External Motors: The prosthetic device has its own power source and assists the patient’s movements.
3. Myoelectric: Using the remaining muscles surrounding the missing limb, the prosthetic controlled by contracting those muscles, sending electrical signals to move the device.

Bionic Limbs, Coming of Age

Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) is the newest technology in development for prosthetics on the market. Developed by Dr. Todd Kuiken at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the “bionic” device allows patients the ability to perform complex motions with their prosthetic limb just by thinking.

The procedure facilitates nerve regeneration after surgery around the injury. The brain sends signals to those nerves and stimulates movement. This procedure keeps the electric signals alive and rooted into the musculature around the injury, a completely fresh approach for prosthetics. A patient simply would send a signal through his body through the newly rerouted nerves causing a contraction.

The largest benefit from these “mind-reading” prosthetics is, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, reduced unnatural movements and errors, such as falling or user discomfort, by 44%.

What do you think about the development of prosthetics over the years? Have you worked with patients who used the newer prosthetics successfully? Please join us inside Sermo as we continue the conversation.