BIOENGINEERING/BIONICS- prosthetic

​BIOENGINEERING

You are a bioengineer working at a prosthetic limb designing company in the U.S.A.

​

Your company designs artificial limbs for people who have lost their limbs because of diseases or accidents.

Click here to see how a day in a prosthetic design company is like

Limb loss is more common than you might think. According to the Amputee Coalition, approximately 185,000 amputations occur in the United States each year.​

Your last designed limb was a mechanical one. Although the limb was easy to wear and was lightweight, the person wearing it had to apply 20% more energy to walk using this limb than a biological limb. This was a huge setback and needs to be modified in the next-generation limb model.

So let's get started!​

Multiple Choice

Considering you want to make the artificial limb more efficient and reduce the energy expenditure on part of the user, what should be your primary goal while designing the next-generation limb to make it better than your already existing limb?

• Make it easier to wear for the users

• Make it lightweight for the users

• Make it more biological limb-like

Make it more biological limb-like.

The mechanical ​limb that you have developed in the past is already easy to wear and lightweight. The drawback of that limb was the high energy usage. So, to make a better limb, your focus should be to design a limb that is more like a biological limb, i.e. the user has to spend a similar amount of energy as they use in a natural limb while walking.

​Since your goal is to make a prosthetic limb that is biological limb-like, let's understand how different muscles in our leg interact when we walk.

Multiple Choice

What are the features that you would incorporate in the next-gen prosthetic limb to make it more natural?

• Have more flexibility like the natural leg

• Mimics muscular movement of the natural leg

• Can rotate and fold easily around the joints

• All of these

All of these.

The mechanical ​limb should be able to function as a natural biological implying the following:

• ​Be more flexible allowing better movement.

• Mi​mics the muscular action of the biological leg to give a more natural walking experience without much energy expenditure.

• Folds and rotates around the joints easily as a natural limb would.​

You designed a prototype (a model) of the leg using the available technology and gave it for testing. Let's get their feedback!

Multiple Choice

The feedback was an eye-opener for you. The limb although comfortable still lacks on many fronts. Considering the feedback of all the 3 users, what changes are required in the limb?

• Customizable size, metallic colors, and lesser automation

• Customizable size, vibrant colors, and lesser automation

• Uniform size, metallic colors, and lesser automation

• Customizable size, vibrant colors, and greater automation

Customizable size, vibrant colors, and greater automation

​Savi emphasized having a more comfortable and right-sized prosthetic. Beth wanted to have a prosthetic that has a vibrant color and is not metallic. Bruce wants a prosthetic that can automatically adjust when he is playing football. Therefore, to accommodate all their needs, you should go for a prosthetic that has customizable size, vibrant color, and greater automation.

You researched and found an amazing technology called 3-D printing which allows you to make customizable prosthetics according to the need of the user. Using this, you created a new design. Both Beth and Savi were impressed by the design and are happily using the limb.

But still, the design lacks automation. So let's get working on that! ​

​3-D printed prosthetics!

Have you ever wondered what is it that makes the movement of our biological legs so hassle-free?

This movement is possible because of the huge network of nerves running across our body, controlled by the brain (the decision-making center of our body). Whenever we want to move, the brain sends a signal to our leg muscles through these nerves, directing them to move.

Multiple Choice

Considering that you want the prosthetic leg to adjust automatically when the person decides to move, what changes would you make in the design?

• Establish a connection between the blood tissue and prosthetic leg

• Establish a connection between the nerves and the prosthetic leg

• Establish a connection between the heart and prosthetic leg

• Establish a connection between the bones and prosthetic leg

Establish a connection between the nerves and the prosthetic leg.

​As discussed earlier, nerves carry signals from the brain which help in the movement of our leg. Therefore, if you want the prosthetic leg to adjust automatically when the person decides to move, then you must establish a connection between the leg and the nerves coming from the brain which is the decision-making center of our body.

Well done!

You created an amazing prosthetic with special sensors that can easily receive signals from the brain through the nerves.

Multiple Choice

You come across a patient who suffered a severe spinal cord injury because of which the connection between the brain and the various nerves is lost. How will you design a prosthetic for such a patient?

• Establish a connection between the spinal cord and prosthetic

• Establish a connection between the muscles and the prosthetic

• Establish a connection between the nerves and the prosthetic

• Establish a connection directly between the brain and the prosthetic

Establish a connection directly between the brain and the prosthetic.

​Because of the injury, the spinal cord and the nerves have lost connection with the brain and ultimately the muscles have also lost the connection. Therefore connecting the prosthetic to any of these would be futile. Thus, you should connect the prosthetic directly to the brain bypassing the spinal cord. This will allow the brain to control the prosthetic leg movement.

You used Artificial intelligence to develop a connection between the brain and the leg.

Amazing!

Here is a bionic ​prosthetic you designed specifically for patients with spinal cord injuries.

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Your team has been approached by a mother whose 10-year-old daughter has lost her leg because of an accident. Her daughter needs a prosthetic leg that would help her walk and play like other kids of her age.

Multiple Choice

The child is young and to help her adjust to the prosthetic would require training and support. Considering that the child would soon not be able to fit the prosthetic once she grows and might need training again and again, what changes would you make to the prosthetic to address this problem?

• Make prosthetics more flexible for movement

• Make multiple-size prosthetics for the child

• Make training more elaborate

• Make prosthetics that grow with the child

Make prosthetics that grow with the child.

​The problem here is the multiple trainings child has to go through every time she gets a new prosthetic when she grows. If we make prosthetics more flexible or create more sizes, that would not solve this problem. Making an elaborate training plan would not be useful as the child will still have to take multiple training sessions.

Thus, you should make prosthetics that grow with the child as then, she won't have to take the training again and again.

Good job!

You made a prosthetic that can be adjusted in length as the child grows by adding rings. The family is extremely thankful to you for all your efforts! ​

To learn more about it click on the link below:​https://www.yankodesign.com/2021/01/21/this-prosthetic-leg-grows-with-your-child/

Poll

There are many kids out there who are unable to get a prosthetic limb because it costs somewhere between $20,000 to $50,000. What would be your strategy for reducing the price and making it more affordable?

• Make the prosthetic with more economical materials

• Get funding from the government and other sources for the kids

• Produce in bulk to reduce the manufacturing cost

• Keep your profit margins low to reduce the selling price

You can choose the strategy as per your preference.

All of these are correct strategies:

• ​Choosing to use economical materials for manufacturing prosthetics would reduce the cost.

• ​If you get funding from the government or other private agencies for the kids, then that would support them in purchasing the prosthetic.

• ​Producing in bulk reduces the manufacturing cost, thereby reducing the selling price.

• If you keep your profit margins low, that would also reduce the selling price.

In reality...

A young engineer designed​ a prosthetic arm for a kid at the cost of $350. Here is a video of the child competing with Iron man with his new arm!

Poll

Would you like to be a Bioengineer in the future?

• YES

• MAYBE

• NO

Poll

On a scale of 1-5 stars (1 being the lowest and 5 highest), how much would you rate this challenge on fun and learning?

Open Ended

What changes would you suggest for this challenge?