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Rehabilitation
Published in Jan de Boer, Marcel Dubouloz, Handbook of Disaster Medicine, 2020
Fitting an amputee with an artificial limb must be done with the aim of giving him or her the best chances of future autonomy. Above all, it must not harm the patient’s chances by creating osteo-articular problems. A limb prosthesis should be comfortable, functional and robust. The crucial point is where the living part (the stump) is in contact with the inert part (the prosthesis). The length and axis of the prosthesis should be ideal as a miscalculated prosthesis can have severe consequences for the joints and the spine, seriously impairing the patient’s future. For lower limb amputees, this aim goes beyond the ability to walk and covers other acts of daily life such as sitting cross-legged, defecating in a squatting position, walking in rice paddies or, in the case of Muslims, praying.
Prosthetics and Limb Health in Extreme Sports
Published in Datta Sourya, Debasis Bagchi, Extreme and Rare Sports, 2019
Sashwati Roy, Shomita S. Mathew-Steiner, Chandan K. Sen
The availability of advanced technology combined with cutting-edge material is not only enabling amputees to engage in their favorite sport or extreme activity (skiing, snowboarding, surfing, etc.) but also breaking the boundaries of their experience. Amputees like Oscar Pistorius (athletics) and Mike Schultz (X-Games) along with others in areas such as rock climbing, surfing, and snowboarding have been trailblazers in their sport of choice. Therefore, the disability is no longer a limiting factor and the choice of sport activity is limitless. However, the bigger debate is if these artificial limbs give advantages over people without prosthetics. Currently, the following types of prosthetics are in use by sports athletes today:
Posture and orthopedic impairments
Published in Michael Horvat, Ronald V. Croce, Caterina Pesce, Ashley Fallaize, Developmental and Adapted Physical Education, 2019
Michael Horvat, Ronald V. Croce, Caterina Pesce, Ashley Fallaize
The loss of a limb is fairly obvious, but there are other limitations imposed by the amputation that may not be as obvious. Without anatomical, or motor control, children will use compensatory strategies to overcome self-selected walking/running patterns, including stride length, step width, balance, and postural sway. First, standing and locomotion are affected. A lower leg amputation affects standing and locomotion without the assistance of an artificial limb or ambulatory device. Second, when an artificial limb is used, sensory information from the joints, proprioceptors, or muscle is absent. This lack affects the ability to sense position or feel the movement or force generated. For example, a child in a physical conditioning class relied on his prosthesis with hooks. When asked why he didn’t select a newer, lighter prosthesis that was cosmetically more pleasing, he answered that it could not provide any sensory feedback and that because he had worn his device for some years he felt comfortable with it. Obviously, the loss of touch is important, especially in a child with an upper limb amputation.
Being the parent of a child with limb difference who has been provided with an artificial limb: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2020
James Oliver, Clare Dixon, Craig D. Murray
The term limb difference refers to an individual who has been born with a congenital limb deficiency or has acquired limb loss during their life [1]. Within the medical literature, limb differences are sometimes termed limb deficiencies and discussed in the context of a trauma, disease or a congenital condition [2]. Limb difference in children is usually congenital in nature and occurs when part of, or the entire, limb does not form as expected during pregnancy [3]. Complete epidemiological descriptions of limb difference in children are difficult to source and estimates can vary from country to country. Prevalence rates for children born with a limb difference range between 3.5 and 7.1 in every 10,000 births [4]. Children who have experienced a lower limb difference are almost always fitted with a prosthesis (artificial limb) to enhance their functional ability. Children with an upper limb difference will not necessarily always choose to wear a prosthesis as this does not always result in functional gain [5].
Being “just normal”: a grounded theory of prosthesis use
Published in Disability and Rehabilitation, 2018
Philip Jefferies, Pamela Gallagher, Mark Philbin
While such research has played an important role in outlining some of the benefits and challenges of using artificial limbs, little attempt has been made to account for the differing experiences of prosthesis users. This can be addressed through the development of theory. Theory has been called for in rehabilitation psychology to inform multidisciplinary practice, where professionals can be provided an array of empirically-supported techniques that can be derived from an understanding of the hypotheses of a theory [11]. At present, the research literature is largely atheoretical, and merely identifying differences between individuals or groups leads to a struggle to account for why such differences exist [11–13]. Instead, theory of sufficient breadth can accommodate divergent behaviours or experiences, offering a conceptually integrative perspective of action in a given area. In addition, investigations of the relationships between known or emerging concepts, as part of a theoretical investigation, can also enable an understanding of their potential interplay. In sum, theory can provide the field of prosthesis use the breadth and depth of understanding that is needed to account for differences in experiences and outcomes, and also provide a means to integrate extant knowledge.
An insight into Transfemoral Prostheses: Materials, modelling, simulation, fabrication, testing, clinical evaluation and performance perspectives
Published in Expert Review of Medical Devices, 2022
K. Amudhan, A. Vasanthanathan, J. Anish Jafrin Thilak
Knowledge of the mechanisms, expertise of machinery such as cams, gears, and linkages by which the intended performance can be achieved is required for calculating the forces available, applied and proper mass distribution for prosthetic components. Good understanding of the limits and distribution of pressure that tissues and arteries can tolerate without harm or suffering is also an important consideration for the design and alignment of the LLP. Making artificial limbs is based on well-established scientific principles, but without the essential technical abilities, prosthetic progress will revert to the trial-and-error procedure [74].