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Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and the elderly. Disabled people often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, or even with assistance. ADLs are self-care activities that include toileting, mobility (ambulation), eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, and personal device care. Assistive technology can ameliorate the effects of disabilities that limit the ability to perform ADLs. Assistive technology promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks. For example, wheelchairs provide independent mobility for those who cannot walk, while assistive eating devices can enable people who cannot feed themselves to do so. Due to assistive technology, disabled people have an opportunity of a more positive and easygoing lifestyle, with an increase in "social participation", "security and control", and a greater chance to "reduce institutional costs without significantly increasing household expenses." In schools, assistive technology can be critical in allowing students with disabilities to access the general education curriculum. Students who experience challenges writing or keyboarding, for example, can use voice recognition software instead. Assistive technologies assist people who are recovering from strokes and people who have sustained injuries that affect their daily tasks.
Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventive surgery for such problems. A special case is that of congenital amputation, a congenital disorder, where fetal limbs have been cut off by constrictive bands. In some countries, amputation is currently used to punish people who commit crimes. Amputation has also been used as a tactic in war and acts of terrorism; it may also occur as a war injury. In some cultures and religions, minor amputations or mutilations are considered a ritual accomplishment. When done by a person, the person executing the amputation is an amputator. The oldest evidence of this practice comes from a skeleton found buried in Liang Tebo cave, East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo dating back to at least 31,000 years ago, where it was done when the amputee was a young child.
Hemiparesis, or unilateral paresis, is weakness of one entire side of the body. Hemiplegia is, in its most severe form, complete paralysis of half of the body. Hemiparesis and hemiplegia can be caused by different medical conditions, including congenital causes, trauma, tumors, or stroke.
In medicine, a prosthesis, or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth. Prostheses are intended to restore the normal functions of the missing body part. Amputee rehabilitation is primarily coordinated by a physiatrist as part of an inter-disciplinary team consisting of physiatrists, prosthetists, nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. Prostheses can be created by hand or with computer-aided design (CAD), a software interface that helps creators design and analyze the creation with computer-generated 2-D and 3-D graphics as well as analysis and optimization tools.
Acheiropodia, also known as Horn Kolb Syndrome, is a genetic condition that affects limb development, resulting in shortened arms and legs and absent hands and feet on both sides of the body at birth. Specifically, individuals are born missing the epiphysis typically found at the end of the humerus bone of the upper arm, the diaphysis which makes up the long section of the tibia bone of the shin, the radius and ulna bones which make up the lower arm, the fibula bone of the shin, and all hand and foot bones. It was first discovered and is prevalent almost exclusively in Brazil.
Cyberware is a relatively new and unknown field. In science fiction circles, however, it is commonly known to mean the hardware or machine parts implanted in the human body and acting as an interface between the central nervous system and the computers or machinery connected to it.
A peg leg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg, especially a wooden one fitted at the knee. Its use dates to antiquity.
Bio-mechatronics is an applied interdisciplinary science that aims to integrate biology and mechatronics. It also encompasses the fields of robotics and neuroscience. Biomechatronic devices cover a wide range of applications, from developing prosthetic limbs to engineering solutions concerning respiration, vision, and the cardiovascular system.
Extended physiological proprioception (EPP) is a concept pioneered by D.C. Simpson (1972) to describe the ability to perceive at the tip of a tool. Proprioception is the concept is that proprioceptors in the muscles and joints, couple with cutaneous receptors to identify and manage contacts between the body and the world. Extended physiological proprioception allows for this same process to apply to contacts between a tool that is being held and the world. The work was based on prostheses developed at the time in response to disabilities incurred by infants as the result of use of the drug thalidomide by mothers from 1957 to 1962, with the tool in this case simply being the prosthesis itself. How a person identifies with themself changes after a lower limb amputation affects body image, functioning, awareness, and future projections.
A Prosthetist and Orthotist, as defined by The World Health Organization, is a healthcare professional with overall responsibly of Prosthetics & Orthotics treatment, who can supervise and mentor the practice of other personnel. They are clinicians trained to assess the needs of the user, prescribe treatment, determine the precise technical specifications of prosthesis and Orthosis, take measurements and image of body segments, prepare model of the evaluation, fit devices and evaluate treatment outcome.
Peter Kyberd is a biomedical engineer specialising in rehabilitation. He is currently head of the School of the Built and Natural Environment at University of Derby. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics, and the executive board of the national members society of the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO). His main research activity has been the practical application of technology to rehabilitation and engineering in Orthopaedics. He has chaired both international upper limb research conferences; MEC and TIPS.
Targeted reinnervation enables amputees to control motorized prosthetic devices and to regain sensory feedback. The method was developed by Dr. Todd Kuiken at Northwestern University and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Dr. Gregory Dumanian at Northwestern University Division of Plastic Surgery.
Swami Vivekanand National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research is an autonomous institute functioning under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of India. It is located in Olatpur, 30 km from Cuttack.
Pet orthotics refers to the use of orthotics for pets. Orthotics is an allied health care field concerned with the design, development, fitting, and manufacture of orthoses. Orthoses, sometimes called braces or splints, are devices that support or correct musculoskeletal deformities and/or abnormalities of the body.
Orthotics is a medical specialty that focuses on the design and application of orthoses, sometimes known as braces or calipers. An orthosis is "an externally applied device used to influence the structural and functional characteristics of the neuromuscular and skeletal systems." Orthotists are professionals who specialize in designing these braces.
Over time, the approach to cerebral palsy management has shifted away from narrow attempts to fix individual physical problems – such as spasticity in a particular limb – to making such treatments part of a larger goal of maximizing the person's independence and community engagement. Much of childhood therapy is aimed at improving gait and walking. Approximately 60% of people with CP are able to walk independently or with aids at adulthood. However, the evidence base for the effectiveness of intervention programs reflecting the philosophy of independence has not yet caught up: effective interventions for body structures and functions have a strong evidence base, but evidence is lacking for effective interventions targeted toward participation, environment, or personal factors. There is also no good evidence to show that an intervention that is effective at the body-specific level will result in an improvement at the activity level, or vice versa. Although such cross-over benefit might happen, not enough high-quality studies have been done to demonstrate it.
Amputee sports classification is a disability specific sport classification used for disability sports to facilitate fair competition among people with different types of amputations. This classification was set up by International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD), and is currently managed by IWAS who ISOD merged with in 2005. Several sports have sport specific governing bodies managing classification for amputee sportspeople.
Robert S. Gailey Jr., PT, PhD, FAPTA, is an American physical therapist; professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Department of Physical Therapy; and the Director of the Neil Spielholz Functional Outcomes Research & Evaluation Center. His research efforts include amputee rehabilitation, prosthetic gait, and functional assessment. He developed the Amputee Mobility Predictor (AMP), an outcome measure designed to evaluate the ambulatory potential of lower-limb amputees with and without the use of a prosthesis. In 2002, he was appointed as a Special Advisor to the United States Department of Defense for amputee rehabilitation. In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, he served as the rehabilitation coordinator for Project Medishare.
Gait deviations are nominally referred to as any variation of standard human gait, typically manifesting as a coping mechanism in response to an anatomical impairment. Lower-limb amputees are unable to maintain the characteristic walking patterns of an able-bodied individual due to the removal of some portion of the impaired leg. Without the anatomical structure and neuromechanical control of the removed leg segment, amputees must use alternative compensatory strategies to walk efficiently. Prosthetic limbs provide support to the user and more advanced models attempt to mimic the function of the missing anatomy, including biomechanically controlled ankle and knee joints. However, amputees still display quantifiable differences in many measures of ambulation when compared to able-bodied individuals. Several common observations are whole-body movements, slower and wider steps, shorter strides, and increased sway.
Ukraine Prosthetic Assistance Project is a project that aims at improving prosthetics and rehabilitation services in Ukraine through global exchange among the field specialists.
References
- ↑ Marcus, Shelley; מרכוס, שלי (1992-01-01). "הערכות לתפקוד היד: סקירה ספרותית / Functional Evaluation of The Hand: a Critical Review". IJOT: The Israeli Journal of Occupational Therapy / כתב עת ישראלי לריפוי בעיסוק. 1 (4): E104–E112. JSTOR 23460030.
- ↑ Hebert, Jacqueline S.; Lewicke, Justin; Williams, Thomas R.; Vette, Albert H. (2014-01-01). "Normative data for modified Box and Blocks test measuring upper-limb function via motion capture". Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development. 51 (6): 918–932. doi: 10.1682/JRRD.2013.10.0228 . ISSN 1938-1352. PMID 25356979.
- ↑ Haverkate, Liz; Smit, Gerwin; Plettenburg, Dick H. (2016-02-01). "Assessment of body-powered upper limb prostheses by able-bodied subjects, using the Box and Blocks Test and the Nine-Hole Peg Test". Prosthetics and Orthotics International. 40 (1): 109–116. doi:10.1177/0309364614554030. ISSN 1746-1553. PMID 25336050.
- ↑ "Box and Block Test Instructions" (PDF). www.rehabmeasures.org. Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
- ↑ Mathiowetz, Virgil; Volland, Gloria; Kashman, Nancy; Weber, Karen (1985). "Adult norms for the Box and Block Test of manual dexterity". Am J Occup Ther. 39 (6): 386–391. doi: 10.5014/ajot.39.6.386 . PMID 3160243.
- ↑ Haverkate, Liz; Smit, Gerwin; Plettenburg, Dick H (2016). "Assessment of body-powered upper limb prostheses by able-bodied subjects, using the Box and Blocks Test and the Nine-Hole Peg Test". Prosthetics and Orthotics International. 40: 109–16. doi:10.1177/0309364614554030. PMID 25336050.
- ↑ "Rehab Measures: Box and Block Test". www.rehabmeasures.org. Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016.