Prosthetic News and Research

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Prosthetic (Prosthesis) devices, such as an artificial leg, that replace a part of the body. Prostheses are typically used to replace parts lost by injury (traumatic) or missing from birth (congenital) or to supplement defective body parts. Inside the body, artificial heart valves are in common use with artificial hearts and lungs seeing less common use but under active technology development. Other medical devices and aids that can be considered prosthetics include artificial eyes, palatal obturator, gastric bands, and dentures.

New discovery about brain activity could improve control over prosthetic limbs

High-tech prosthetics allow amputees to engage more fully in everyday life, even to compete in sporting events.

1 Dec 2017

Novel discovery connects innate immunity deficiencies to rampant caries in some children

Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have made a novel discovery connecting genetic innate immunity deficiencies to rampant caries and increased risk of dental caries affecting about one in five children.

27 Nov 2017

NUS engineers develop new flexible, ultra-thin microfiber sensor for real-time monitoring of vital signs

A research team from National University of Singapore has developed a soft, flexible and stretchable microfibre sensor for real-time healthcare monitoring and diagnosis.

16 Nov 2017

Researchers use ultrasound technology to help amputees get greater control of prosthetics

There's hope for a better life for people who've lost an arm or leg, thanks to new research funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense.

16 Nov 2017

Russian scientists design new compounds that can treat glaucoma

Glaucoma is a serious disease associated with increased intraocular pressure which often leads to blindness. One of the ways to treat glaucoma is to reduce aqueous humour secretion in the ciliary body of the eye by suppressing (inhibiting) activity of special enzymes - carbonic anhydrases.

3 Nov 2017

EPFL scientists show how TMSR affects upper-limb maps in the brains of patients with amputations

Targeted motor and sensory reinnervation (TMSR) is a surgical procedure on patients with amputations that reroutes residual limb nerves towards intact muscles and skin in order to fit them with a limb prosthesis allowing unprecedented control.

27 Oct 2017

Existing drugs could help patients with rare form of bone cancer

Patients with a rare bone cancer of the skull and spine - chordoma - could be helped by existing drugs, suggest scientists from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, University College London Cancer Institute and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust.

12 Oct 2017

Navy developing new class of intelligent prostheses for warfighters with limb loss

Traditional leg prosthetics enable amputees to maintain mobility and lead more active lives. But these prosthetics depend on soft limb tissue to function and can be painful to wear, resulting in awkward walking motion and possible skin infection.

4 Oct 2017

New procedure allows surgeons to reconstruct entire heart valves from patient’s own tissue

A new method allows surgeons to reconstruct entire heart valves from the patient’s own tissue. This surgical procedure is currently only used at a handful of centers in the world.

30 Sep 2017

UCI-led consortium receives $8 million from NSF to develop brain-computer interface

The National Science Foundation has awarded $8 million to a consortium led by the University of California, Irvine to develop a brain-computer interface that can restore walking ability and sensation in individuals with spinal cord injury.

13 Sep 2017

Four year $1.4 million Air Force grant supports WVU biologists to explore moths’ olfactory systems

As humans walk and talk, we sense our own movements or sounds. Yet, we can distinguish our actions from everything else in our environment that affects our senses.

7 Sep 2017

World's first split-keel fiberglass foot launched by Freedom Innovations

Freedom Innovations, a leading global designer and manufacturer of advanced technology lower limb prosthetics, today launched the Maverick™ Comfort AT, an all-terrain, fiberglass foot with a low profile designed to accommodate those with clearance challenges while providing comfort and ease of mobility with unsurpassed ground compliance.

From PROTEOR 29 Aug 2017

Bionic vision restoration: could future technologies restore sight?

The brain is very plastic, which means that the brain is able to adapt to new signals. In the case of bionic vision restoration, the photoreceptors have died, the brain is not receiving anything biologically, and you are going to then send something which is artificial, prosthetic, and has been created outside the body.

21 Aug 2017

High-frequency alternating magnetic fields can help destroy bacterial biofilms

A short exposure to an alternating magnetic field might someday replace multiple surgeries and weeks of IV antibiotics as treatment for stubborn infections on artificial joints, new research suggests.

9 Aug 2017

New antibiotic-releasing polymer may simplify treatment of prosthetic joint infection

A team of Massachusetts General Hospital investigators has developed an antibiotic-releasing polymer that may greatly simplify the treatment of prosthetic joint infection.

18 Jul 2017

Mechanical heart valves lead to fewer infections than biological prosthesis

Infections in surgically implanted heart valves are more common in patients who have been given a biological prosthetic valve than in those with a mechanical one, a study from Karolinska Institutet published today in the journal Circulation shows.

18 Jul 2017

Mayo Clinic researchers describe medical costs of falls in adults with transfemoral amputation

In a new study published in Prosthetics and Orthotics International, Mayo Clinic researchers describe the direct medical costs of falls in adults with a transfemoral amputation.

11 Jul 2017

3D-printed models could soon assist cardiologists in life-saving heart valve replacements

Heart valve models created with advanced 3-D printers could soon assist cardiologists in preparing to perform life-saving heart valve replacements.

3 Jul 2017

New study evaluates two additive manufacturing methods for producing fine or coarse textured implants

A new study evaluated two additive manufacturing methods for producing either fine or coarse textured titanium implants and compared the strength of bone integration, interlocking, and torque in rats given one or both types of the implants in the distal femurs.

30 Jun 2017

3D printing in medicine

We would normally divide the additive manufacturing technology into seven different groups. Whilst they all focus on building layer by layer, the way in which those layers are constructed varies according to the different type of additive manufacturing technology that's being used.

27 Jun 2017