Prosthetic Limbs : Past, Present, and Future Essay -- Prosthetics Arti

Prosthetic Limbs: Past, Present, and Future Abstract: The purpose of my research paper is to discover how artificial limbs work in conjunction with the human body, which plastics are used in prosthetic limbs, and if there are any better possible plastics out there that can be used. The 1.9 million people in America who have lost limbs find it hard to pay for them, since they’re very expensive, so I looked into materials used, which are currently plastics such as polypropylene and carbon fibers. However, there are still some problems such as slow reaction time so manufacturers and laboratories are looking into alternate solutions such as carbon nanotubes and microchips. Research is expensive though, so I do not see the cost of prosthetic limbs going down anytime soon. With the cost of everything going up, the price of artificial limbs are going up as well, some even reaching $100,000 just for an arm or leg, preventing many people from getting one, even though it may be necessary to continue their job and normal life (New Life and Limbs). Imagine you were a soldier in the Iraq War. There are about six hundred soldiers who lose limbs from the war, which are costly to replace (War Fuels Prosthetics). After serving your country you would have to come home with your life completely changed, especially if you don’t have enough money to pay for a new limb. By looking at how artificial limbs work with the body and which plastics are used, I will try to see if there are new plastics which can reduce the cost and make artificial limbs available to more people around the world. Although there are only 600 soldiers from the Iraq war who have come home with lost limbs and needed to have them replaced, other ... ...t-is-polypropylene.htm>. Newton's Apple. "Prosthetic Limbs." Reach Out Michigan. Fall 2007. National Science Teachers Association. 27 July 2008 newton/prosthetic05.html>. Ossur Prosthetics. "Prosthetics by Ossur." Ossur. 14 Aug. 2007. Ossur. 28 July 2008 . Patel-Predd, Prachi. "Sensitive Synthetic Skin in the Works for Prosthetic Arms." Ieee Spectrum Online. 4 Jan. 2008. 29 July 2008 . Singer, Neal. "Prosthetic Limb to be Controlled by Microchip." Sandia. Sandia National Laboratories. 29 July 2008 . The Associated Press. "New life and limbs for Iraq war amputees." MSNBC Health News. 8 Mar. 2004. MSNBC. 27 July 2008 .