1Cademy - A Brief History of Prosthetics

Concept

A Brief History of Prosthetics

After World War I, the need for prosthetics became a major concern for many countries with a large number of injured soldiers and civilians. In Germany, around 80,000 soldiers had limbs amputated, so they created a rehabilitation project to provide financial compensation and physical and vocational rehabilitation to reintegrate them into society.
Before the war, most artificial limbs were hand-made and aimed to resemble natural limbs closely. However, hand-made production's high demand and limitations led to criticisms of their limited functionality. As a result, mass-produced prosthetics with increased functionality became more important than their appearance.
The functional-oriented prosthesis improves functionality by replacing missing limbs and stimulates the imagination of future bodies. Prostheses were seen as a component of the technologically advanced "new human body." The Germans called it the "New Man." It was expected to be a more efficient and powerful step beyond the organic human body.
The development of leg prosthetics has seen significant advancements since 1988, especially in the Western world. The design of prosthetic legs has evolved from resembling natural human legs to a more machine-like appearance with advanced biomechanics. Pistorius's Cheetah prosthetic legs were created by biomedical engineer Van Phillips and produced by Össur.