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A brief history of prosthetics
Prosthetic limbs abstract
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“[Ewell] had lost a leg at Manassas and had just recently returned to the army, and he was standing awkwardly balancing himself against the unfamiliar leg… swaying nervously, clutching a fencepost,” (Shaara, 224). He is missing part of his leg, and explains that a minie ball hit his leg “just below the jointed knee” (Shaara, 225); back in the day minie balls were used and could shatter bone, so doctors would render the wound untreatable and amputate the limb it hit. Amputations were very common and done with anesthesia, which was recently made at the time; sometimes they didn’t use it when amputations occurred. When James Longstreet, a lieutenant general, is riding off back to the camp after the first day of the battle, he sees a wagon with many limbs in it. “[Longstreet] passed by a hospital wagon, saw mounded limbs glowing whitely in the dark, a pile of legs, another of arms.
Beating the enemy and saving lives are top foci of combat, both accomplished through innovations to make armies more effective and efficient as seen in the American Civil War. The Minie Ball, a cylindrical round, was innovated by Claude-Etienne Minie in 1848 within France to load rifles more rapidly than the sphere style ammunition it replaced (A, B). The closure of a sucking chest wound was innovated by Benjamin Howard in the United States during 1863 as a procedure to save lives by applying an air tight seal to a wound that was proven as “certain death” in previous battles (D). The Minie Ball and the closure of a sucking chest wound were both great innovations used during the American Civil War, but the Minie Ball had a much greater impact before the year 1900 as it allowed armies to eliminate more enemy soldiers than the closure of the sucking chest wound saved. On a global platform, each innovation made huge influences in the way the world’s armies progressed
Amanda Kitts is a great example “The assembly is topped by a white plastic cup midway up Kitts’s biceps, encircling a stump that is almost all that remains from the arm she lost in a car accident in 2006.” Due to the car accident in 2006, Kitt has an arm with “… flesh-colored plastic…underneath are three motors, a metal frame, and a network of sophisticated electronics.” Although, Kevin wasn’t in a car accident he still uses bionic parts for his legs and arms. “…little Freak showed up one day with these shiny braces strapped to his crooked legs, metal tubes right up to his hips, why those were even more cool than crutches.” This quote directly from “Freak the Mighty” (pg. 12) proves that Freak has similar problems.
This is from the case of George Dedlow (page 124), written by Mitchel. This is referring to the amputee who that had his arm cut off. He is explaining how it was removed from the shoulder point and how after the incision he was felt a sign of relief. In the book the amputee is talking about his experience of loss of limb and how it was his way to freedom. Phantom limb or the ghost limb is where the amputee can still sense the presence of the limb after it has been cut off.
Dr. Mary Walker was not well liked in the field because she would frequently avoid amputating limbs of soldiers when she saw it unnecessary. She advocated for the patients and wrote, “I considered that I had a higher duty [to patients] than came under the head of medical etiquette” (Irizarry 9). Only years after did she receive praise for stopping amputations. Neighbors of Dr. Walker recall many soldiers visiting and expressing their gratitude for her work in the field (Irizarry
Cooper and Taqueti (2004) reported that in mid-1960s a mannequin patient simulator called Sim One that is completely computer controlled, were developed by an engineer, Doctor Stephen Abrahamson, and a physician, Doctor Judson Denson, at the University of Southern California. They were collaborating with Sierra Engineering and Aerojet General Corporation. Abrahamson described the idea of creating the mannequin as the need of Aerojet to develop peacetime applications in ability to face the decreasing of military funding, before the increasing conflict with
Amputation which often on the battlefield did save lives, because a crushed foot or arm would always lead to a fatal systemic infection, so it was simpler to cut it off other than to try and save it. Having to work very quickly, a very skilled surgeon would cut through the flesh that was saw completely through the bone and apply a piping red hot iron to fix off the stump’s raw surface and stop the bleeding of the cut. Sometimes the entire operation was performed in less than two minutes. By having a limb amputated the mortality risk was about fifty percent. But even with a fifty-fifty chance of living after this surgery was a better chance that most received, because if the person didn’t receive treatment they would most definitely die.
As the novel progressed, technological advancements positively influenced the characters. At the beginning of the book, Franz Kemmerich died from an amputation of only his foot (p.32). At the time, morphine was used to treat the pain that Kemmerich was going through (p.17). Later on in the war, however, Albert Kropp survived a much heavier amputation when his leg was removed from the thigh down (p.260). Peter, a patient in the hospital when Paul Baümer and Kropp were there, came back from the Dying Room, which had never been done before (p.261-262).
The 1920s was ultimately a time of prosperity and growth for the United States as stock markets boomed and the manufacturing industry skyrocketed. A lot of these innovations and advancements would result in the same prosperity that we have today in the year 2018. Whether it was the transportation innovations that changed how we get around while ensuring individual safety, and the medical advancements saved lives and prevented illnesses that today are nonexistent. “In each year of the decade, the economic indexes grew higher and higher, fueling people's optimism and spending habits. Credit became a popular purchasing method.
The process was brutal and often done without the use of anesthesia. Instead, soldiers were given alcohol or opium to help them deal with the pain. Surgeons would use a bone saw to remove the limb, and the patient would often scream in agony. The success rate of the procedure was low, as many soldiers died from infection or shock. After the amputation, the patient would be fitted with a wooden leg or crutch and would spend months recovering.
The leotard is a one-piece garment that covers the torso and leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard who lived from 1842 to 1870. There are sleeveless, long-sleeved and short-sleeved leotards. There is also a variation called the unitard, which covers the legs. Leotards are used for practice and performance.
Over the years, many changes have been made to further battlefield technology from the Revolutionary War to World War II completely revolutionizing the way in which battles are fought and it has changed and stretched our standards of what we consider ethical and acceptable. During the the Revolutionary War, the battlefield technology that we had included the Kentucky long rifle, flintlock muskets, the Brown Bess, the French Charleville musket, and cannons which used metal balls and grapeshot. However, the accuracy and the time it took to load some of the firearms at this time was far from today’s standards. Some of the new innovations during the Civil War, that radically changed the way the war was fought included hot air balloons, submarines,
Optimism was one of Terry’s best qualities, but he hadn’t always seen the glass half full. When Terry had his right leg amputated, he was dispirited and unhappy (TerryFox:Facts,2015). It took him a while to get accustomed to his new prosthetic leg and the lifestyle that came with it. It was especially hard since Terry was such an athletic person and was always on his feet before the amputation, but he prevailed over his problems and saw it as an opportunity to raise cancer awareness (TerryFox:Facts,2015).
Head Start and Early Head Start are federal programs that promote “school readiness of children from birth to age five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development.” The Head Start program was developed in the 1960s by President Lyndon B. Johnson as an outgrowth of the Economic Opportunity Act, and Early Head Start was started in 1994 to address the needs of low-income children under the age of three. Under Head Start and Early Head Start, children from financially challenged families are provided with opportunities and experiences normally only enjoyed by their wealthier counterparts. In 2006, the federal government put $6.8 billion into the program and distributed grants to nearly 1,400 community
Since I was three years old I have always cherished Bionicle and every year since the initial debut of the series I have religiously collected every set lego has released. With every set that was unveiled, I saw how their designs changed and the ways of assembling the parts increased. Knowing this intrigued me even more because I wanted to be how they worked and how they were built, material wise and the structure, so I could replicate the process and construct my own unique figures. First thing I learned about Bionicle which opened my eyes to what I could make was the ball and socket joints which is the basis on how make more. The second thing I learned from the first sets of Bionicle I had, I learned how to connect gears and how to make them