How much do bionic prostheses cost and how good are they?

According to data from open sources, eachAbout 1 million amputations are performed worldwide every year. In most cases, a person's limbs are removed due to trauma. However, sometimes surgery is resorted to for serious vascular diseases, when tissues begin to die in patients. Some people continue to live without a removed body part, but about 10% of disabled people manage to buy prostheses - this is what artificial substitutes for real arms and legs are called. At the moment, there are cosmetic prostheses that create the appearance of a lost part of the body, and bionic ones that completely replace the limbs and perform their functions. Since the 2000s, technology in the field of prosthetics has been developing very rapidly, so let's talk about how much they cost, how they work, and whether they can fully restore a person's ability to perform household tasks.

Fashion model Lauren Wasser with bionic prosthetic legs

Content

• 1 How did prosthetic arms and legs come about?
• 2 First person with a modern bionic prosthesis
• 3 Most Popular Prosthetic Arms and Legs
• 4 How much do prosthetic arms and legs cost?
• 5 How do people with prostheses live?

How did prosthetic arms and legs come about?

First artificial limb replacementshumans appeared thousands of years ago. This, at least, is evidenced by archaeological finds. For example, scientists know that the German knight Gottfried, who lived in the 16th century, had an iron hand that squeezed his fingers when a button was pressed. Judging by historical documents, with the help of this instrument he could even write with a pen.

One of the first bionic hands in history

Over time, bionic prostheses have improved a lot.For example, in the 19th century, residents of Victorian England, after amputation, could wear prostheses that were set in motion with the help of levers. As they became mobile, they took on a more beautiful appearance and looked more like real arms and legs. In the 20th century, wood and metals were no longer used to create prostheses, because durable and lightweight plastic appeared.

Over time, bionic hands became more functional and lighter.

First person with a modern bionic prosthesis

Until the second half of the 20th century, all prosthetic arms and legshad many disadvantages. The modern prosthesis, which is devoid of most of the flaws, was first installed in 1993 by Robert Campbell. In 1982, he was diagnosed with a terrible diagnosis of muscle cancer, the development of which could only be stopped by amputation of the affected arm. After the operation, the man wanted to start performing his usual tasks again and turned to scientists.

Robert Campbell with bionic arm

Representatives of the Center for the Development of Surgery andbioengineers implanted the "Edinburgh Modular Hand System" into the remainder of the man's hand. Unlike prostheses that existed before, this bionic arm consisted of microchips, gears and motors that allowed the limb to be held in different positions. With the help of an artificial hand, Robert Campbell was able to lead a normal life again without any special restrictions. Needless to say, it was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

The most popular prosthetic arms and legs

Modern bionic prostheses have differentdesign and principles of operation, it all depends on the model. There are options that move due to the activity of the remaining muscles. More advanced models are equipped with sensors that respond to nerve impulses - they can even reproduce fine motor skills of the hands. There are also prostheses that seem to have come from science fiction films, because they work by literally reading a person’s mind. In the future, there should be more such models, because Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk, is developing an interface for creating a direct connection between the human brain and a computer. In this field, she has already achieved great success.

In the future, bionic prostheses can be controlled by the power of thought

The world's first commercially available prosthetic handwas developed by Touch Bionics in 2007. It was called i-limb and replaced the lost hand - a special sleeve was provided for fastening. Due to the weight of 25 kilograms (for those times, this is an excellent result) and the presence of thin fingers, the prosthesis made it possible to grab any objects. The owners could both eat food with cutlery, and use a computer mouse and tie shoelaces.

Bionic arm i-limb

In 2016, Touch Bionics was bought by an Icelandicby Össur. In addition to her, the Spaniards bought another dozen manufacturers of prostheses, thanks to which she became a leader in this area. As of 2019, Össur's capitalization is over $450 million.

Prosthetic leg with the most realistic foot

How much do prosthetic arms and legs cost?

According to analyst firm Frost &Sullivan, the cost of modern bionic prostheses ranges from 5 to 50 thousand dollars. The price directly depends on the extensive list of features they provide, speed, power, quality of materials and other parameters. In terms of our money, it turns out that in Russia bionic prostheses cost from 300 thousand rubles.

Bionic prosthetic leg

In Russia, you can get a bionic prosthesisfree of charge, on disability. To do this, you need to go to the hospital at the place of residence and undergo a medical and social examination. The purpose of the medical examination is for doctors to add a prosthesis to an individual rehabilitation program.

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How do people with prostheses live?

Sometimes people with modern prosthetic handsreach great heights. An example is Professor Hugh Herr, who, with the help of his prosthetic legs, leads an active lifestyle, doing rock climbing and other sports.

Hugh Herr rock climbing

Another good example is drummer JasonBarnes (Jason Barnes), who lost the lower part of his right hand in an accident in 2012. Familiar engineers helped him create a prosthetic drummer, and now he can play more accurately and faster than his colleagues.

Model Lauren Wasser

Some people make dentureson one's own. For example, schoolboy David Aguilar made himself an artificial arm from LEGO Technics parts. We wrote more about this craftsman here. Today he is a fully grown man.

David Aguilar

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In addition to prostheses for lost limbs,there are exoskeletons. They can allow healthy people to run and lift weights faster. For example, there is a device that allows you to lift loads weighing up to 90 kilograms.