Assignment 2: Research

Disablement of limb(s)

• Approximately 2 million people in the US are living without a limb
• African‐Americans are up to four times more likely to have an amputation than white Americans
• Approximately half of individuals with an amputation from a vascular disease will die within 5 years
• 55% of diabetics who receive a leg amputation will require a second amputation.
• Reasons for disablement
  • Born with disability
    • Cerebral palsy (700,000 US cases)
    • Congenital amputation (born without a limb)
  • Amputation (185,000 each year in the US)
    • Vascular disease (54%)
    • Severe injury (45%)
    • Other (Cancer, tumors, neuroma, infections, frostbite-, <2%)
  • Non-severe injury (Approximately 3.5 million cases each year)
    • -Broken limb
    • -Fractured limb
• Sources
  • http://www.cerebralpalsy.org/about-cerebral-palsy/prevalence-and-incidence
  • https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/cp/data.html
  • https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dear-mona-how-many-kids-break-a-bone/
  • https://www.amputee-coalition.org/limb-loss-resource-center/resources-filtered/resources-by-topic/limb-loss-statistics/limb-loss-statistics/#1

 

Rich

I read an interesting article about a man who had lost his left arm and at first it talks about how being a runner, his balance had shifted losing 8 lbs to one side of your body. He said his center of gravity was noticeable different. He talked about how he could still feel his arm an dhow it never truly felt gone. He could still feel his fingers and the watch on his hand and he said it never really felt gone. He said even the simplest of tasks became extremely more difficult as you would imagine. But one specifically that stood out to me was when he fell over running on the same slanted sidewalk behind his house that he ran over so many times before, and when he tried to catch his fall with his imaginary hand, he caught it with his nose instead and broke it. Imagine just how different your life is that your amputation caused your fall and also made the fall worse since he couldn’t catch himself. He had to train himself to fall and get caught with the other hand. Really puts things into perspective for me personally.

http://nymag.com/health/bestdoctors/2014/miles-obrien-2014-6/

Not an article but a discovery of an innovative company that not many are familiar with. Maddak Inc. is a designer, manufacturer and wholesalers specializing in products for seniors and for people who are disabled or in rehabilitation. A company that is dedicated to creating new or innovating old products to better suit amputees can change many lives. We have found in our research and shadowing of each other that a lot of simple daily tasks are very difficult to complete when using one limb. Maddak manufactures hundreds of product aids ranging from eating to bathing to reading/writing and many more. Here we found that many of the problems we incurred can be fixed with Maddak.

Nail Clipping Aids

Maddak SP Ableware http://www.maddak.com/pages.php?page=about_maddak

 

Some other products (that are not made by Maddak) that allow you to do ‘two-handed tasks’ with one arm.

Gripper Pads to secure the base to a surface when twisting lids

Handled Floss

Sources: Grip Pads

Sources: Handled Floss

 

Ridhwan

The case of Miles O’Brien is one that cannot be studied enough in studying the impacts of living life in the absence of a limb. O’Brien has done so much to advance our understanding of how individuals like him are able to function in a world with few resources readily available to address the needs of people that are missing an arm. This article gives a deeper understanding of his experience building his own solutions to the unique issues he experiences. The prosthetic arm he has developed is a versatile prototype that he hopes to use to address some of the common issues he experiences, from cooking to driving a car. This article is incredibly useful to contextualizing the experiences we will be addressing in this research project, and what kinds of solutions may be most useful for someone like O’Brien.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/learning-ride-drive-live-one-handed

The CRAAP Test Worksheet Score: 49

 

This next article offers great insight into another issue related to the concerns of people living in the absence of a limb, and that’s the accessibility and affordability of prosthetics. In third world countries, many people are forced to live without any clear solutions to their ailment if they are missing a limb or had it amputated. This article talks about an inexpensive, re-moldable prosthetic arm that could be distributed to clinics in this area of the world. This article is incredibly relevant to my own group, as it helps remind myself of the importance of ensuring that the solutions we consider and develop are ones that can easily be accessed by people of all income levels and social classes.

https://medtechengine.com/article/amparo-third-world-amputees/

The CRAAP Test Worksheet Score: 45

 

Hunter

I found this article interesting because it thoroughly explains what it is like to lose a limb. It doesn’t address many negative aspects of losing a limb. However, the article is very descriptive of what the pain is like to lose a limb in an accident. After the accident mentioned in the article, the writer highlights many of the things that he was able to accomplish while only having one foot. He notes that he was able to play high school sports even though that his doctor told him he would likely never be able to run again. He claims that even with one foot, he can still do virtually anything that he was able to do with two feet. I like that the article had a positive message reflected throughout it and feel that it could be as encouragement and motivation by other amputee victims that are struggling with losing a limb. 

https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-lose-a-limb-in-an-accident-and-how-did-you-handle-the-emergency

CRAAP Test Worksheet Score: 37

 

I thought that this article was perfect for our subtopic of amputee self-care. The article directly addresses our self-care tasks that we were focusing on. It gives great insight on the difficulties of taking care of your personal hygiene, while only having one arm. There are also many helpful tips an techniques that are included in the article to help amputees with things like hair styling, shaving, make-up, etc…

https://www.racked.com/2017/7/27/15985002/one-arm-amputee-makeup-hair-beauty-routine

CRAAP Test Worksheet Score: 41

 

Julia

I found this article to be particularly interesting because it addresses the phantom pains that people can have once they’ve lost a limb. In addition to this it talks about his mental denials that the arm is really gone. I think these mental barriers will be something very important for us to consider going forward with this project.

My new life with one arm http://theweek.com/articles/445460/new-life-arm

CRAAP Test Worksheet Score: 39

 

I really loved this list because it really opened up the issues that amputees face on a daily basis. This includes the various lotions and care products they use to make their prosthetics more comfortable and to protect their skin. This list was especially interesting as it was produced by the prosthetics manufacturer UNYQ. Even with their business interests in prosthetics it’s curious that amputees aren’t using a specialized lotion or jelly to protect their remaining limbs, they’re making do with products that exist for other reasons.

21 Things These Amputees Can’t Live Without. http://unyq.com/21-things-amputees-cant-live-without/

CRAAP Test Worksheet Score: 43

 

Our bodies naturally understand where we start and stop, this allows us to thoroughly interact with the world around us. The subject of this article was talking about how we can tap into the muscle and mental memory of our body to better enable prosthetics.

Proprioception: the sense within https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46796/title/Proprioception–The-Sense-Within/

CRAAP Test Worksheet: 44