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Medicine, Technology and Industry
Published in Roger Cooter, John Pickstone, Medicine in the Twentieth Century, 2020
One of the most striking changes which medicine has undergone in the course of the twentieth century is in its technologies. Hospitals have been literally filled with instruments. Not that the notion of instruments as aids to the senses was new a century ago. The late-nineteenth century physician could make use of, for example, the stethoscope or the ophthalmoscope in his diagnostic work, whilst the thermometer enabled him to generate a much more precise and apparently objective record of a patient’s temperature. But gradually, as medical technology (the term ‘instrument’ becomes less appropriate) became a key determinant of the structure of medical work, it became something more than the accoutrements of individual practice. Hospitals began to invest in devices which took more and more space, required specialized technicians to keep them in working order, and began to constrain the very architecture of the hospital. Think of today’s instrument-filled intensive care unit, or the PET scanner with its dedicated cyclotron, or the computer systems on which both depend. But think too of the quite different kinds of technologies which microelectronics and the development of new materials have brought with them: artificial substitutes for internal organs for example, or myoelectric prostheses. The locus operandi of medical technology is no longer the hospital alone. For some, ‘bionic man’ is a walking testament to the achievements of science based medicine. For others, as we shall see, he is the source of a profound disquiet.
Technologies for vision impairment
Published in John Ravenscroft, The Routledge Handbook of Visual Impairment, 2019
Lauren N. Ayton, Penelope J. Allen, Carla J. Abbott, Matthew A. Petoe
Vision prostheses, or bionic eyes, are implantable devices that use electrical currents to stimulate the residual healthy components of a damaged visual pathway. The technology is analogous to cochlear implants, which use electrical stimulation of the cochlea in the hearing impaired, and have now restored hearing to over 325,000 people worldwide. However, as the eye is anatomically more complex than the ear, the technological challenges are significant in the quest to develop a high-resolution vision prosthesis.
Prosthetics
Published in Manoj Ramachandran, Tom Nunn, Basic Orthopaedic Sciences, 2018
Manoj Amachandran, Imad Sedki, Jo Dartnell, Linda Marks
Patients either aim for a natural looking prosthesis or prefer a more ‘bionic’ look. Body image issues are common and counselling is often required. Achieving good function where the patient moves and uses the prosthesis in an intuitive natural manner greatly enhances cosmesis, even without any special covers. Nevertheless, an upper limb user holding the prosthesis in an awkward manner might draw more negative attention in spite of using a well-matching highdefinition silicon cover.
Prosthetic control system based on motor imagery
Published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 2022
Xuemei Wang, Huiqin Lu, Xiaoyan Shen, Lei Ma, Yan Wang
The function of the human upper limb is complex and involves rich sensory feedback (Jiang et al. 2017). Thus, selecting a suitable signal source for prosthetic control is essential during design. Electromyography signals are widely used for prosthetic control (Chada et al. 2020; Hou 2020) For instance, Touch Bionics (Livingston, UK) has developed the i-Limb myoelectric control prosthesis (Zhao and Wang 2020; Zhou et al. 2020). Such systems can help patients complete meticulous actions, such as opening cans and entering passwords on a keyboard. However, they require surgical transplantation of the residual arm nerve, increasing the risk of infection. Alternatively, Wang et al. (Sun 2017) developed a system for finger movement pattern recognition based on surface electromyography signals. The system integrates feature extraction and pattern classification algorithms for online control of multiple free limbs. However, electrode positioning (Zhang et al. 2020), muscle fatigue, and other factors influence the eigenvalues for classification, often undermining the system performance. In addition, patients with muscle atrophy and full-arm amputation generally lose effective signal sources (Zhang et al. 2013), impeding the use of electromyographic-controlled prostheses. Although the accuracy of using voice commands to control prostheses is relatively high (Sun 2017), environmental conditions substantially impact the recognition accuracy.
Technology and TBI: Perspectives of persons with TBI and their family caregivers on technology solutions to address health, wellness, and safety concerns
Published in Assistive Technology, 2021
Tolu O. Oyesanya, Nicole Thompson, Karthik Arulselvam, Ronald T. Seel
Mobility concerns focused on the person with TBI’s ability to safely engage in physical movement in or around the home or community. Persons with TBI and their family caregivers described the current use of mobility aids, including walkers, canes, and gait belts; portable toilets; and stair lifts. One person with TBI described the use of a prosthetic leg (i.e., bionic leg with cell phone interface) as an assistive technology for mobility. When describing how the bionic leg worked, the participant shared: “I also have a bionic leg. It‘s got a powered ankle. So the problem with losing your foot is you can‘t replicate the things that your ankle does, like give you forward momentum, that type of thing. So, anyway this doctor developed a mechanical foot that‘s got a little computer in it and it‘s got power. You just control it by using weight. And then you can get feedback through your phone. It tells you the number of steps that you took and that type of thing.” (Person with TBI #103)
Psychosocial functioning at 4-years after pediatric mild traumatic brain injury
Published in Brain Injury, 2021
Kelly M. Jones, Shanthi Ameratunga, Nicola J. Starkey, Alice Theadom, Suzanne Barker-Collo, Takayoshi Ikeda, Valery L. Feigin
Rather than a longitudinal analysis, the current study examines the development of a cohort of children with mild TBI, identified as part of the population-based Brain Injury Incidence and Outcomes New Zealand in the Community (BIONIC) study, at a single time point (4-years post-injury) compared to published norms. In the BIONIC study, multiple overlapping prospective and retrospective surveillance systems captured all TBI events in residents of all ages in the Hamilton and Waikato Districts of New Zealand (NZ) over 1-year (01 March 2010 to 28 February 2011). To ensure complete case ascertainment, all cases of TBI, including those who had not presented to hospital or those who attended for medical care after an accident indicating that a TBI may have occurred, were identified and investigated. The BIONIC study was approved by the Northern Y Health and Disability Ethics Committee of NZ and Auckland University of Technology Ethics Committee. Full details of the methodology of the BIONIC study have been published separately (36).