Introductory Chapter: Past, Present, and Future of Prostheses and Rehabilitation

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2020-02-05

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Shanthini Madhanagopal, Martin Burns, Dingyi Pei, Rohan Mukundhan, Helen Meyerson and Ramana Vinjamuri (February 5th 2020). Introductory Chapter: Past, Present, and Future of Prostheses and Rehabilitation in Prosthesis, in Prostheses edited by Ramana Vinjamuri, IntechOpen 2020.

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Attribution 3.0 Unported

Subjects

Abstract

A prosthesis is defined as “…a device attached to the stump of an amputated body part due to traumatic or congenital conditions…” [1]. Prostheses have evolved over the past centuries, starting with a wooden toe to the highly mechanized robotic limbs of today. The evolution of prosthesis started in the Egyptian period during which wood was used as a replacement for a missing toe, coconut shell was used as a dental implant, and various other materials were used as an alternative to different body parts. There are various types of prostheses depending on the body part being replaced. These include upper and lower limb (LL) prostheses, neural prostheses (NP), retinal prostheses, maxillofacial prostheses, and various other types.