Prosthesis

This article argues for a more rigorous distinction between body extensions on the one hand and incorporation of non-bodily objects into the body on the other hand. Real re-embodiment would be a matter of taking things (most often technologies) into the body, i.e. of incorporation of non-bodily items into the body. This, however, is a difficult process often limited by a number of conditions of possibility that are absent in the case of 'mere' body extensions. Three categories are discussed: limb extensions/prostheses, perceptual extensions/prostheses and cognitive extensions/prostheses. For each category, a distinction between extensions and incorporations is proposed, and the conditions of possibility for real incorporation are discussed. These conditions of possibility differ in each category, but in general they ask for radical or fundamental alterations not only in the motor and/or sensory or cognitive constitution of a human subject, but also in his or her subjective experience.

"Retinal prosthesis represent the best near-term
hope for individuals with chronic blinding disease of the outer
retina. However the small number of stimulating electrodes
produces a poor, low resolution image. We propose a new preprocessing
method for epi-retinal implants and validate it
through a novel simulation of the implanted blind perception.
Twenty-one normally sighted, untrained subjects performed a
face recognition test. Three different electrodes grids were
simulated: rectangular, hexagonal and log-polar. The results
show that the proposed pre-processing method has a good and
statistically significant performance improvement."

“... un testo aggiornato, completo e di rapida consultazione per comprendere indicazioni e modalità di utilizzo di tutori, ortesi, protesi e ausili; una iconografia dettagliata che consente di visualizzare immediatamente forma e impiego degli stessi...” (dalla prefazione del Prof. Giulio Maccauro)
Un testo-atlante che non esaurisce la sua funzione didattica al termine del corso di studi, ma che rimane come utile e maneggevole strumento di consultazione e di formazione nella pratica quotidiana di qualsiasi Professionista dell’Area Sanitaria.
Con 164 figure a colori.
Maggiori dettagli nel PDF scaricabile (indice, prefazione completa, pagine campione) e sul sito dell’editore UniversItalia.

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to describe the current pattern and outcome of care at a tertiary hospital in Shisong-Cameroon and to compare our experience with that of other published data. METHOD: This observational prospective hospital-based study was conducted over the two years of 2018 to 2019. The parameters reviewed include sociodemographic data like the age and sex of the patients, then the indications for the major limb amputation, and the complications. Results. The study was carried out on 172 files of patients aged 1year to 84years with a mean age of 32± 10.28 years. There were 124 (72.4%) patients of the male, and 48 (21.6%) patients were of the female gender. One hundred seventy-two amputations were realized with Lower limb amputations were 99 (57.7%) in the lower extremity, and 73 (42.3%) in the upper extremity. There were 16 patients (9.30%) with complications, including surgical site infection of the stump wound closely trailed by hematoma. The most significant risk factor for amputation was diabetes (38 patients, 22.09%) followed by ulcer (2 patients, 1.16%), and vascular disease (6 patients, 3.49%). Traumatic gangrene was the most frequently encountered indication for amputation n = 104 (60.47%), followed by diabetic gangrene n = (38 patients, 22.09%). CONCLUSION: Traumatic gangrene and other trauma-related limb conditions are the leading indications for amputation in this study. Trauma is mostly preventable, and so there is a need for continued intensification of the public campaign on-road use as a means of preventing severe limb injuries and thus reducing the consequent need for amputations.

As a result of the increased incidence cases for a maxillofacial due to accidents and cases of disease has become necessary to work on the production of alternative materials for sites damaged in this area. The particularly important bio material is silicone rubber, which is widely used in damaged maxillofacial affected areas replacement surgery. The aim of this research, prepared a nano composites materials, from polymer blend (silicone rubber: 5% PMMA) reinforced by two different type of natural nano-powders. Pomegranate Peels Powder (PPP) and Seeds powder of dates Ajwa (SPDA) with loading level (0.0, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.4%). Some mechanical properties such as tensile, hardness, compression and surface roughness were test, as well as, FTIR, DSC and SEM tests were done on prepared sample. The results showed that the optimum percent of both Pomegranate Peels Powder (PPP) and Seeds powder of dates Ajwa are 0.2%, 0.3 respectively that have ideal characteristic.

This essay was aroused from a big question: what kinds of perceptible and/or imperceptible relationships between human and technology are being constituted not only in science, technology, medicine and industry but also in contemporary art? In dealing with this question, my theoretical task was to approach eclectically the concept of prosthesis, born as it is from the particularity of specific histories, practices, and imaginations. I draw on historical and theoretical methodologies from prosthesis studies and art theories, aesthetics and art history, psychoanalysis and media theory, art criticism and cultural studies. Through this approach, I revisited the question of relationship between human and technology, which means not only the support, alternative, merge of technology to human but also the amplify, extension, augmentation, enhancement, and incorporation and/or excorporation of human through the power of technology. Especially, in this essay that question was represented as a kind of problem of tendency, technostress and technopleasure.
But originally this research have an own aim in the field of art theory. Therefore, I needed to find the prosthetic tendencies of visual art dealt with new media and/or new technology in the center of contemporary art. This putted me on my way toward showing how Vostell's and Nam June Paik's art works in the 60s art world reveal the ironic and complex responses to new mass media, for example TV. And then I discussed the collective memory, remediated memory, or prosthetic memory(A. Landsberg) can be criticized by Sherman's and Kentridge's works of art. Finally, in reflecting the latest contemporary art practices, I argued that one of the aesthetic character of contemporary art is the prosthetic beauty. In this context, the prosthetic beauty means a kind of uncanny perception, the co-existence of the familiar and the unfamiliar, the technological fragmented and stitched re/presentation of the historical objects, images, texts, and bodies.

In this article I will show that the problem of embodiment goes back to the question of the mind-body split, as this has been established and discussed by the philosophical tradition. With the digital turn and the advent of ubiquitous computing the problem of embodiment has taken new (and far more complicated) forms that have led scholars to introduce the notion of a “new digital Cartesianism.” Subjectivation processes within digital culture have mostly been explained by resorting to what I will call the “E-D-R scheme,” (embodiment-disembodiment-reembodiment scheme) which assumes that a real detachment between the body and the mind really occurs in digital processes. Since—as I will show—this is not actually the case, I will suggest replacing this epistemological scheme with a new one, which I will call the “double-embodiment scheme,” in order to acquire a more fitting epistemological account of the underlying digital ontology. Finally, I will discuss the distinction between bodily ...

This research approach of several composite materials with 12 layers were suggested from perlon, kevlar and woven carbon fibers, and natural knitted kenaf, the purpose findings mechanical, physical properties and fatigue life that help to use the socket with good design at longest period. There are two best types of composite materials are used for to analysis of the fatigue and tensile properties of prosthetic socket below knee which laminated by using vacuum system. The pressure inside the stump of patient and the socket was 165 kpa. Originality of using natural kenaf fibers led to the improvement of the maximum tensile strength 39.35% and safety factor of 2.52, with research limitations at the lowest costs and longest period of time. So, the experimental and numerical techniques were used to calculate the fatigue characterizations for effect of kenaf reinforcement fiber of composite materials used. Therefore, the experimental work included manufacturing for composite samples with different lamination layers and various layer number of kenaf fiber, in addition to, calculated the mechanical properties and fatigue life of its samples. The experimental results of fatigue have a good agreement with those obtained using the Finite Element approach. It was found that sample with kenaf has a maximum number of cycles up to failure =18.35 × 105 cycle at stress ratio (R=-1). The analytical part, using ANSYS2020 R2 to model (BK) from suggested materials with and without kenaf for the patient suffering from lower knee amputation for diabetes. Practical implications of experimental and numerical methodology showed that kenaf fibers have achieved the requirements of safety.

The purpose of this article is to explore the different prosthetics inventions in physical activity and sport and how they have progressed. This brief review seeks to answer the question, "how has the advancement of prosthetics aided in the inclusion of lower and upper body amputees in physical activity?". The goal is to analyze outdated technology to show the limitations to the users and how the more we advanced with prosthetics, the more inclusive physical activities can be for amputees. Results from a literature review of work published in the last ten years express and describe the success of the field of biomechanics and prosthesis in harmony with athletes and physically active individuals with amputations. Future directions are discussed.

This paper describes the design and implementation of a case study based investigation using immersive virtual reality as a treatment for phantom limb pain. Three participants who experienced phantom limb pain (two with an upper-limb amputation, and one with a lower-limb amputation) took part in between 2 and 5 immersive virtual reality (IVR) sessions over a 3-week period. The movements of participants' anatomical limbs were transposed into the movements of a virtual limb, presented in the phenomenal space of their phantom limb. Preliminary qualitative findings are reported here to assess proof of principle for this IVR equipment. All participants reported the transferal of sensations into the muscles and joints of the phantom limb, and all participants reported a decrease in phantom pain during at least one of the sessions. The authors suggest the need for further research using control trials.

Passive knee prostheses require a significant amount of additional metabolic energy to carry out a gait cycle, therefore affecting the natural human walk performance. Current active knee prostheses are still limited because they do not reply with accuracy of the natural human knee movement, and the time response is relatively large. This paper presents the design and control of a new biomimetic-controlled transfemoral knee prosthesis based on a polycentric-type mechanism. The aim was to develop a knee prosthesis able to provide additional power and to mimic with accuracy of the natural human knee movement using a stable control strategy. The design of the knee mechanism was obtained from the body-guidance kinematics synthesis based on real human walking patterns obtained from computer vision and 3D reconstruction. A biomechanical evaluation of the synthesized prosthesis was then carried out. For the activation and control of the prosthesis, an echo-control strategy was proposed and developed. In this echo-control strategy, the sound side leg is sensed and synchronized with the activation of the knee prosthesis. An experimental prototype was built and evaluated in a test rig. The results revealed that the prosthetic knee is able to mimic the biomechanics of the human knee.

This review describes methods for interfacing motor neurons from muscle recordings and their applications in studies on the neural control of movement and in the design of technologies for neurorehabilitation. After describing methods for accessing the neural drive to muscles in vivo in humans, we discuss the mechanisms of transmission of synaptic input into motor neuron output and of force generation. The synaptic input received by a motor neuron population is largely common among motor neurons. This allows linear transmission of the input and a reduced dimensionality of control by the central nervous system. Force is generated by low-pass filtering the neural signal sent to the muscle. These concepts on neural control of movement are used for the development of neurorehabilitation technologies, which are discussed with representative examples on movement replacement, restoration, and neuromodulation. It is concluded that the analysis of the output of spinal motor neurons from muscle signals provides a unique means for understanding the neural coding of movement in vivo in humans and thus for reproducing this code artificially with the aim of restoring lost or impaired motor functions.

In this article I will show that the problem of embodiment goes back to the question of the mind-body split, as this has been established and discussed by the philosophical tradition. With the digital turn and the advent of ubiquitous computing the problem of embodiment has taken new (and far more complicated) forms that have led scholars to introduce the notion of a "new digital Cartesianism." Subjectivation processes within digital culture have mostly been explained by resorting to what I will call the "E-D-R scheme," (embodiment-disembodiment-reembodiment scheme) which assumes that a real detachment between the body and the mind really occurs in digital processes. Since-as I will show-this is not actually the case, I will suggest replacing this epistemological scheme with a new one, which I will call the "double-embodiment scheme," in order to acquire a more fitting epistemological account of the underlying digital ontology. Finally, I will discuss the distinction between bodily extension and the incorporation of non-bodily objects introduced by Helena De Preester in order to show that, in the digital realm, this distinction is much more blurred and complex than she acknowledges: digital interaction requires both bodily extension and the incorporation of objects as complementary processes.

3D printing has been admired as a cutting-edge technology, which will change manufacturing [1]. Recent advances in bioprinting technologies have enabled rapid manufacturing of medical models in many fields and areas. Recently in the field of dentistry, fused deposition modeling and Stereolithography 3D bioprinting techniques have been using in dental applications such as implants, the production of physical models for prosthodontics, orthodontics, and surgery [2,3]. This paper reviews the usage of fused deposition modeling and stereolithography 3D printing technologies and their various applications in dentistry and in maxillofacial surgery. 3D printing is transforming digital dentistry by extensively penetrating opportunities in diagnosis, treatment and education. The accel- erated research in this industry and optimism would open more doors to help revolutionize digital dentistry.

Keywords: Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM); Stereolithography (SLA); 3D Printing; Dentistry, Dental Devices

Prosthetic limbs fabricate devices that provide amputees with a replacement for their missing limbs, restoring some function. These artificial feet are not as multifunctional as natural feet, but they improve the patient's performance level. Considering prosthetic feet, in
particular, selecting a device is based on how favorably a device matches the human foot's characteristics. Prosthetic feet are designed to meet required values for tensile strength, density,
corrosion resistance, shear strength, flexibility, durability, and cost-efficiency. The above considerations depend on the properties of the material used, the foot's design, and the manufacturing process applied. In the manufacture of the prosthetic foot, polymers composite
reinforced with fibers have been used. Their characteristics confirm a constant and low weight structure that makes it possible for agglomeration, distribution, and energy storage through
walking, making a certain rise in gait effectiveness. Depending on the composite's adjustment in terms of fiber choice, their system, type of mixture and mass content, and the prosthesis design, the foot gets change effectiveness as the ratio of energy unconfined to energy
assembled. In this paper, the biomechanics, materials, and models of the prosthetic foot have been reviewed.

"Representations", N. 129, Winter 2015.

The essay analyzes the project of maintaining the body of V. I. Lenin in the Mausoleum in Moscow for the past ninety years, focusing on the unique biological science that developed around this project, and the unexpected political role this body has performed.

Lunettes, stimulateurs cardiaques, prothèses dentaires, audioprothèses, implants mammaires, bras mécatroniques, etc. : notre monde nous plonge de plus en plus dans un univers de prothèses – l'âge venant, peu d'entre nous y échappent. Cette hybridation change nos vies et notre quotidien. Elle concerne des aspects à la fois variés et essentiels : les gestes moteurs, les perceptions, l'expression de soi, l'esthétique, l'identité, l'interface et la connexion avec le monde. Les prothèses peuvent compenser une capacité défaillante. Elles peuvent aussi apporter des capacités modifiées voire inédites. Elles transforment la relation que nous entretenons avec le monde, avec autrui et avec nous-mêmes. Certaines prothèses ne relèvent plus de la compensation mais de l'augmentation ou de la modification d'une capacité ordinaire.
Il semble ainsi bienvenu d'étudier l'abondante source de réflexions prothétiques qu'apporte la science-fiction sous toutes ses formes (roman, film, bande dessinée, design, jeu vidéo, art…) Les contributeurs et contributrices de cet ouvrage révèlent la richesse et la profondeur des explorations que la science-fiction a produites depuis plus d'un siècle. Elle nous donne à vivre une multitude d'expériences par procuration qui mêlent anticipations, rêveries, interrogations personnelles et questions sociopolitiques.
Cet ouvrage académique a bénéficié de l'évaluation d'un comité de lecture universitaire associant la société savante Stella Incognita et l'Association Académique pour les Humanités (AAH). Il est aussi le fruit d'une collaboration avec le consortium de recherche Corps et Prothèses (corps-protheses.org).

What is human enhancement all about? Why has it become a major concern in debates about the future of contemporary societies? This book is devoted to clarifying the underlying ambiguities of these major debates. It proposes novel ways of exploring what human enhancement means, what practices and technologies are involved, and what goals are invoked, with their respective justifications and criticisms. It calls on contributors from different countries and backgrounds—sociology, philosophy, bioethics, political science, engineering, medicine, literary studies, science fiction—to examine three fundamental aspects of human technological enhancement: firstly, what the concept of human enhancement means; secondly, what practices constitute human enhancement today, and; thirdly, what it might become in the future.

This chapter is a study of dildos and strap-ons as accessories in early modern literature and culture. It first asks what it means to theorize accessories as things, and then what it means to theorize things as accessories. The end performs a reading of Thomas Nashe’s dildo poem “The Choise of Valentines” (c. 1592), demonstrating how a positive theory of accessories based on joining and attachment rather than lack can bring us back to the very question that the Freudian fetish denies from the start: the question of pleasure.

This essay charts the role of armor in Renaissance practices of knowledge. Since the advent of gunpowder warfare, armor was largely unfit for combat, yet still became a centerpiece of princely representation and was prominently displayed in early collection spaces. Rather than illustrating chivalric virtues or antiquarian taste, such suits in my reading signal a shift towards a physiological fashioning of learning. Through juxtaposing two key sets of armor – one ‘gothic’ suit situated in the studiolo, the other a ‘grotesque’ garniture for a chamber of curiosities –, my paper traces how these embodied settings conflated epistemological with political sensibilities. While the earlier ensemble acted as a mnemonic ‘prosthesis’ that enhanced the mind of the wearer, the latter evoked natural history imagery to remap the order of things around personal authority. Objects of armor thus spotlight the interplay of material and political culture in engineering the early modern subject.

Prostheses work by feedback, a key concept of the theory of command and communication between human and machine, also called cybernetics. A set of propaganda photographic documents featuring certain myoelectric hand prostheses, shows the beginnings of Soviet research in this area. The project of reproduction of the complexity of such an organ shows the difficulty of this attempt to reinvent the hand. In the form of a prototype, this new artifact maintains the hope of becoming a real innovation adaptable to the greatest number of users. As the mathematician, Norbert Wiener and the roboticist Masahiro Mori attested, not without difficulties, prostheses seem to be a unique field of research capable of unifying the automatic, the electronic and the mathematical theory of the transmission of information.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Scanning protocol for completely edentulous ridge is a very critical step in surgical guide construction. AIM OF THE STUDY: Comparing the accuracy between implant placement by double scan technique versus triple scan technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve patients with completely edentulous mandibles were selected for two implant placement and overdenture prosthesis using computer aided surgical guides. The patients were divided into 2 groups. First group (control group) was implant placement with triple scan protocol technique (CT scan for patient wearing scan appliance, two optical scans for the model with and without scan appliance-C1). Second group (intervention group) was double scan protocol technique (CT scan for patient wearing scan appliance, CT scan for scan appliance alone-C2). Presurgical and postsurgical CBCT scans were superimposed to compare the virtual implant placement with the actual implant placement. seven deviation parameters in buccolingual and seven deviation parameters in mesiodistal were used to evaluate the amount of deviation between

The primary target of this Thesis is the design of a constructive procedure for the
reinforcement and consolidation of lumber in wood floor slabs of ancient buildings using
metallic profiles that settle from the superior face of the floor.
The system has two differentiated applications affluent that are analyzed in this work. First it
is the reinforcement of the pieces that have degradation in lost resistance and rigidity, and
second consists of the recovery or consolidation of the supports of the pieces that are lost
the necessary stability as a result of an intensive degradation.
The study has been developed in two phases. First it has consisted of the previous study of
propose solutions by means of the analysis of the finite elements method (FEM), using
COSMOSWorks. This phase has served to orient the second experimental phase of
verification. The second phase is oriented to group the test in laboratory of 45 different type
and origin pieces: 15 pieces of great squareness of laminated wood, 15 sawn timber pieces
and 15 pieces of ancient buildings. Each group of 15 pieces subdivided itself in 3 sub-groups
of 5 pieces with the following criterion. The first sub-group, served as witness of the pieces
without no type of reinforcement or prothesis. The other two remaining sub-groups for the
study of the reinforcement and the prothesis respectively.
Finally, it has been come to make a real experience in work, in a wood floor slab of an
ancient building (XIX century) in the historic town of Madrid. Tests of field by means of the
application the reinforcements were executed on 32 lumber with different lengths, obtaining
coincident results with the experiences of the laboratory. The conclusion of this system
displays a simple application in the work, with a reasonable cost and mechanical results of
the reinforcements and the prothesis of high effectiveness. The increase of the stiffness is
200% and the increase of the load capacity in the reinforced pieces is 150%. The recovery of
the supports by means of the metallic prothesis reaches an acceptable load capacity. The
use of FEM has been of great value and effectiveness for the project of the reinforcement
solutions.

ABSTRACT. Myoelectric signals are weak signals (order of micro-volts) generated by the muscular activity. The contraction of muscles can generate microvolt level electrical signals within the muscles. These signals can be realized on the surface of skin above the muscles or within the muscles using a needle. Based on this phenomenon, it was thought of implementing a myoelectric control to prosthetic hands which would use a surface electrode to receive myoelectric signals from disabled persons’ residual limb. A prothetic hand is a customized limb that can be fitted on a disabled persons’ residual limb to assist them in manipulation, which can be only performed by hands. This chapter demonstrates the principle of controlling the prosthetic hand by Surface EMG signals on a wooden prototype. The developed prosthetic hand also uses force sensor and proximity sensor to aid the EMG sensor for hybrid control. The chapter describes the various steps for development of low cost surface EMG controlled prosthetic hand.

The history of limb prostheses and soft-tissue replacements has centered largely on discussions of mimesis: the attempt to make the body whole again and mitigate the “uncanny gaze” that might call attention to visible deviations from the normative human body. This mimetic impulse has dominated prosthetic design theory for the last two hundred years. Recent developments in robotics and medical device technology—aided by the history of art and design—have questioned the necessity of mimesis in artificial body parts by embracing the uncanny and exploring the social and philosophical precepts of what it means to be human. However, these fundamental questions of mimetic prostheses and body augmentation are not novel to modernity. Ancient and medieval societies grappled with the same issues when confronted with disability or nonnormative bodies, and they frequently rejected mimesis as a guiding principle for making the body whole again. Instead, they often pushed the boundaries of bodily agency through a keen awareness of materiality, designing prostheses that subverted the power of the uncanny gaze while embracing the uniqueness of the trans-, meta- or even posthuman body.

Journal article for Word and Text 3:2 (2013)

Daniel H. Wilson's 2011 novel Robopocalypse revolves around the trope of the robot uprising and depicts a world in which human beings must fight growing armies of ever-evolving machines in order to survive. The human-robot battles described in this text engage with traditional definitions of technology as a prosthetic tool or supplement of the human and present the possibility of overturning the hierarchical relationship between man and machine. This article outlines how through the use of the motifs of prosthesis and the appendage, Wilson’s text explores such traditional interpretations of technics and offers a different understanding of man’s relationship with technology based on the notions of originary technicity or a cyborgian becoming that is inherent to the human.

http://jlsl.upg-ploiesti.ro/No_2_2013.html