HST Students Participate In Videoconference About Artificial Limbs

On Thursday, February 18th,  Mrs. Sofia's Health Science Technology class participated in a videoconference dealing with the advancement in artificial limbs.  The Great Lakes Science Center teamed up with WVIZ in Cleveland, Ohio to give the presentation.  David Garcia, a gentleman who has a business that produces artificial limbs gave the presentations that included photos and videos showing some of the new technology in the field of artifical limb production.


Artificial Limbs have been produced for centuries.  Ancient Egyptians produced artificial toes.  The artificial hand goes back as far as 500 years.


One of the products that were shown was a Terminator style arm that was infused with the client's muscles so the arm could function the same way a normal arm does.


Another product that was displayed was the iLimb.  The iLimb is a complex hand that functions so much like a natural hand that a client can pick up a compact disk using the hand.  It looks and functions similar to the artifical hand Luke Skywalker had in "The Empire Stikes Back."


Many of these advancements are being researched and developed in Cleveland, Ohio.  To see some of these devices in action, visit The Great Lakes Science Center this Saturday at 1pm.