BIOMEDICAL REPAIR

Prosthetics

Prosthesis

• An artificial extension that replaces a missing body part

• Typically used to replace a missing body part or enhance a defective body part– Lost by injury (trauma)– Missing from birth (congenital)

• Common uses: artificial heart valves

• Artificial hearts and lungs

• Artificial eyes

• dentures

Prosthetic enhancement

• 2008, Oscar Pistorius was disqulified as an olympic runner due to the “unfair mechanical advantage” of his prosthesis

• Mechanical parts could soon surpass human equivalents in their efficiency…

• Part of biomechatronics: the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control lost by trauma, disease, or defect

• Biosensors detect what the user wants and relay that information through the user’s nervous/skeletal system to a controller

• The controller located inside the device will than control the device, sensing the limb’s position and force

• Claudia Mitchell, former Marine, has been working withRecently, Claudia Mitchell, a former Marine and amputee, has tested a prosthetic arm developed by Dr. Todd Kuiken at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. A plastic surgeon, Dr. Gregory Dumainian at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago re-directed the nerves that control her missing arm to her chest. The nerves re-grew close to the skin of her chest. Tiny electrodes on her skin pick up the electrical activity of these nerves and send signals to the motors in the arm. She is able to control the arm's movements by thinking about it. As of now, the prosthetic arm is not truly biomechatronic in that signals only go one way, from Claudia to the arm. Dr. Kuiken is working on the next step of having the arm provide feedback to her, including sensations such as pain and pressure.

• Can be used to enhance our own function, ex. carry a large/heavy load

Artificial organs

• Man-made device that is implanted into a human to replace a natural organ to restore a specific function– Not external (ex. dialysis machnie) but

internal

An extremely expensive process, used for:• Life support to prevent imminent death

while awaiting a transplant (e.g. artificial heart)

• Dramatic improvement of the patient's ability for self care (e.g. artificial limb)

• Improvement of the patient's ability to interact socially (e.g. cochlear implant)

• Cosmetic restoration after cancer surgery or accident

Types of artificial organs:

• Brain pacemaker– Sends electrical impulses to brain to relieve

depression, epilepsy, tremors

• Artificial valves– Especially at ends of stomach, to help with

function of sphinters– Used for esophageal cancer, reflux disease

• Artificial pacemaker– Electronic device that helps to keep the heart

contractions regular

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/St_Jude_Medical_pacemaker_in_hand.jpg

• Artificial ear– Cochlear implants to help with hearing or

cosmetic repair

Cosmetic Surgery

• Has been around since ancient times:– Ancient Romans used to repair damaged ears

• One of the most common is skin grafts

• Can be reconstructive: to correct functional impairments caused by injuries (ex. burns, car accidents, cancer, etc.)

• Or can be cosmetic, to cause “enhancement” of appearance– 12 000 000 were performed in US in 2007– Most common: tummy tuck, eyelid tuck,

• …mammoplasty (breast reduction/augmentation)

• Buttock augmentation, chemical peels, rhinoplasty, etc. etc.

• Nose job: $4,000 to $7,000 • Facelift: $7,000 to $10,000 • Breast implants: $5,000 to $8,000 • Liposuction: $2,000 to $10,000, depending on

how many areas fat is removed from and what technique the surgeon uses to remove it

• Tummy tuck: $6,000 to $8,000 • Vein treatment: $500 to $2,000 per treatment,

depending on the technique used • Dermabrasion: $2,000 to $4,000