New Innovative Prosthetics

Limbs 4 All:Prosthetics

ARE YOU MISSING A LIMB?
WELL, YOU HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!
Limbs 4 All Prosthetics: Changing lives for the better daily!
  • Problems with Current Prosthetic Limbs
  • Why our Prosthetics are Needed
  • The Science Behind our Prosthetics
  • How to Make an Even Bigger Change in this Industry
  • About Us
  • Conclusion
  • The End








    • Problems With Current Prosthetic Limbs

    1. The biggest issue with today's prosthetics is the high cost as they are very expensive and many in need are unable to afford it
    2. It is well known that today's prosthetics tend to cause skin irritations and rashes. They may also require additional surgeries which firthermore add to the cost.
    3. Another issue with the today's world of prosthetics is the time necessary to both adjust to the prosthetics and getting them on and off for specific times.(such as sleeping when you don't want your prosthetic to get stuck on a blanket or sheet.
    4. The current solution to solve some issues regarding the time necessary is only making matters worse. Inventors are installing apps inside the prosthetics to improve grip and stability for the users prosthetics. These apps sound very helpful for the user's limbs; however, these apps can be hacked and if the programming for these apps end up in the wrong hands, users could lose all control of their prosthetic.
    5. One of the less discussed issues is that the current prosthetics on the market tend to slip, loosen or just fall off. A prime example of this concern comes from Heather Mills (former spouse of Paul McCartney). She was participating on the TV show, "Dancing on Ice" when her prosthetic leg flew off mid-routine.

    Why Our Prosthetics are Needed

    In the US, more than 1.6 MILLION people have some type of limb loss and over 185,000 Americans annually have amputations performed. All kinds of people require amputations and prosthetics.

    1. Bethany Hamilton (AKA: The soul surfer) had her life turned upside-down when a shark bit of one of her arms. She is now well know as one of the most successful amputees of all time. However, there are still many things she cam not do and providing new prosthetics can help her perform her daily activites and improve her surfing (balance)
    2. Ella Fitzgerald (AKA: The Queen of Jazz) and 13 time Grammy Award winner had both of her legs amputated due to the effects of diabetes. This ended her music career far too soon and our prosthetics could've helped her get back on her feet (literally and figuratively)
    3. One of the main reasons for these new prosthetics are the many tragic injuries that soldiers sustain. In Iraq, in 2012 alone, there were over 1500 amputees;including many who will never be the same. These soldiers fight for our country year long and they deserve proper care; they should be provided the proper prosthetics and as a benefit the cost should be reduced to little or none.
    4. Believe it or not, millions of children are born either with missing limbs or with limbs in the wrong places. This is just one more reason that our prosthetics are needed; to provide these newborns the chance for something even remotely close to a normal life.

    The Science Behind Our Prosthetics



    What do our brains do to make our hands, legs, and fingers move? All the things we do while moving are put in a category which we call our motor skills. This works because our brain sends us "messages" from the pyramidal motor pathway which originates from the cerebral cortex or the brainstem. The peripheral nervous system is (as it sounds) the nerves along your ganglia (which is on the outside of the brain) and your spinal cord. Some nerves on the spinal cord are connected to your arm's nerves/muscles. The nerves in your arms are connected to the cervical nerves which send waves of impulses to and from the muscles in the hands, the forearms, and the skin of the hands. For example, if you have one of our innovate prosthetic limbs, lets say a leg for instance and you want to walk forward. All of you have to do is somewhere in your brain have a thought about walking; so, if you want to walk forward, you'll walk forward with no issue.

    How to Make an Even Bigger Change in this Industry



    The world changing is a scary thing, but in this case it's a great change!

      Our limbs provide people with the closest thing to the limb they initially had as they are capable to do everything they used to be able to do. Our realistic design and the science/technology attaching these limbs to their nerves allow users to do just about as much as a normal limb.
    1. In the future, we plan to add different "shells" for the prosthetics. For example, outside the prosthetics we can add a layer that makes it look like a real hand.
    2. We also plan to make prosthetics for all sizes and types to allow every amputee from children with birth defects to soldiers in battle to have the perfect prosthetic for them. To do this, we could use 3D printing to customize each arm, while also reducing the cost.
    3. We also would like to make the prosthetics waterproof to really allow users to feel like they can live a normal life.
    4. To clarify, we don't mean to criticize people missing limbs or using current prosthetics. By saying they can't live a normal life, we mean that simple daily actions are difficult for them such as walking, and lifing heavy objects. That's is why we continue to innovate; our soul purpose is to improve the lives of those in need any way we can.



    Who we are

    We are a small group of coders with big dreams. We want to change the world by solving an issue that is rarely thought of; the mobility of prosthetic limbs.While this is only a concept, we hope it will become much more than that, and make an impact on people's lives.-
    1. Bryce- Is an 8th grader who resides in Huntington. He loves animals and computers and his favorite sport is tennis.
    2. Anjali is an 8th grader at Howitt Middle School. She loves math but really doesn't like art. She likes to sing and take pictures.
    3. Leian currently attends St. Joeseph High School (where we are now) and is French. She loves computers and New York and she likes to read.
    4. Matt is a 10th grader who lives in Manorville (Suffolk County, Long Island). His favorite subject is math and he plays the trumpet. He also is on a swim team.

      Conclusion
      To make our project better we asked for some help on Yammer and then Skype. We mainly talked to Australia and we made about 4 friends. They talked about their projects and we had some laughs in general, and when we talked to them they gave us some good advice on how we should format and explain the concept of our topic. Amber (who is one of the people we talked to) said she really wants to keep in touch and my team and I said we will gladly keep in touch with not just her, but everyone we met and talked to. It has been such a great experience working with people in another country, but it was really fun getting suggestions and comments from other groups in our location. Andrew, who is in team 7 was very helpful to our group. At late at night (really in the morning ) he explained how to do some specific things which really helped our website. Thank you to everyone who has helped or commented on our website. We are grateful to We Connect the Dots for giving my team and I a very memorable and fun experience.

      WE ARE DONE!