Amputee Life — Amputee News

A new study sought to determine the prevalence of obesity in Dutch individuals with lower-limb loss. The study was published in the BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders journal in September 2021. The researchers also investigated the link between body mass index (BMI), body weight, and skin problems in the residual limb with the frequency of prosthetic repairs.

Before the arrival of robotic prostheses, prosthetic devices didn't evolve much since the oldest wooden toe, deemed to be about 3,000 years old, was discovered by archeologists in 2011. Since that discovery, newer prosthetic limbs were more like biological limbs, such as the Modular Prosthetic Limb in 2011 and brain-controlled arm prostheses that could experience touch in 2020. As prosthetic advancements continue along those lines, the future of prosthetics appears to lead to artificial intelligence (A.I.).

Desiree Riny, a graduate of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), created a design guide that could benefit individuals with limb loss who don't have access to healthcare. Instead, they can use accessible materials, such as bicycle parts and other scrap materials, to create their own lower-limb prosthetic device. 

People experiencing limb loss from different walks of life would come to Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., to do one thing: learn how to ride a bike again.

The best things in life are often free, but sometimes, they are not accessible to everyone. This was the motivation behind “Pro-Toe-Type,” a project by Louisiana Tech University engineering freshman students Matthew English, Andrew Tucker, and Carter Ledbetter. Pro-Toe-Type concentrates on designing a prosthetic leg that makes hiking more accessible to prosthesis users.