Web Quest for info about prosthetics and Afghanistan

1. Bruce Abe
High School
Prosthetics in Afghanistan
Students will understand the importance of prosthetics to life in Afghanistan today, as well as the
challenges involved in their use and maintenance.
1. http://www.army.mil/article/53906/Young_Afghan_amputee_gets_new_arms/
a. What kind of prosthetic hand does the Red Cross make available in Afghanistan?
b. How may Afghanistan's culture make it more difficult for an amputee to learn to use
prosthetics?
2. http://www.army.mil/
Go to the search box in the upper right. Type in “amputee inspiration.” Find a story that
challenges your ideas about what is possible after losing a limb.
a. How important was it to have a great prosthetic device?
b. How much effort was required to learn to use the device? How many specialists had to
help?
3. http://www.icrc.org/eng/where-we-work/asia-pacific/afghanistan/index.jsp
a. Look in the box labeled “facts and figures” half way down the page. How many new
amputees did the ICRC serve in the first nine months of 2012?
4. http://www.the-monitor.org/index.php/cp/display/region_profiles/theme/1553
a. How many land mine casualties were there in Afghanistan in 2010?
b. How many survived their injuries?
c. How many of the casualties were civilians?
d. About what percent were children?
5. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/24/us-india-amputees-idUSTRE61N0RK20100224
a. How much does it cost to manufacture a Jaipur foot?
b. The article also discusses how much a high-end, cutting-edge prosthetic would cost. How
much is that?
6. http://science.howstuffworks.com/prosthetic-limb.htm
a. Go to page 3. What are the three basic components of prosthetics?
b. On page 4, how long does the average prosthesis last?
c. Page 5, what are three ways that a prosthesis can be controlled?
7. http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/DSO/Programs/Revolutionizing_Prosthetics.aspx
a. DARPA is the defense advanced research projects agency. It funded research that led to the

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internet. It is attempting to revolutionize prosthetics. What control mechanism are they
pioneering?
b. How is that different from myoelectric control?
8. http://www.nist.gov/tip/wp/pswp/upload/239_limb_prosthetics_services_devices.pdf
Go to page 3. In transradial prostheses, there are two main types, cable operated and
myoelectric.
a. Can you describe how a cable-operated prosthesis works?
b. How does a myoelectric prosthesis work?
Go down to page 11.
c. How much does a non-functional, cosmetic hand cost in the US?
d. How much does a functional hook cost?
e. How about a neuroprosthetic arm?
Page 15
f. How is Utah linked to prosthetic arms?
9. http://www.who.int/countries/afg/en/
a. What is the life expectancy (at birth) of an Afghan female?
b. How much does the average Afghan spend on health in a year, in dollars?
c. What is Afghanistan's Gross National Income per capita? GNI means how much money is
earned by everyone in the country combined. Per capita means divided up equally among
the population. So if everyone shared equally in the economy, that tells you approximately
the resource levels available per person per year.
d. Take the cost of a cutting-edge prosthetic, and divide it by GNI per capita. That tells you
aproximately how many years worth of total effort would have to be put in to purchase one
of these devices.
e. Divide the cost of a Jaipur foot by Afghan health spending per year. That gives you an idea
of how big an investment that would represent.
f. Divide the cost of a neuroprosthetic arm by the GNI per capita. That tells you how many
person-years of economic activity would be required for one of these devices.
g. If a girl worked from the day she was born until the day she died, she might earn her GNI
times her life expectancy. How many lifetimes of work are represented in the price of a
cutting-edge prosthetic?

3. Bruce Abe
Answer Key
1. New Arm
a. The ICRC Afghanistan does not make a functional hand, just a hook.
b. In their culture, when one person is injured, the family wants to take over and take care of
the person's needs. That makes it difficult to encourage independence.
2. Military stories
a. answers will vary
b. answers will vary
3. International committee of the red cross
a. 833
4. Land mine monitoring
a. 1211
b. 646
c. 90%, or 1095
d. 53%
5. Jaipur foot
a. $38 or $48
b. $8000 to $9000
6. How stuff works
a. The pylon, the socket, and the suspension system.
b. Three years.
c. Body powered, externally powered controlled by switches, and myoelectric.
7. DARPA
a. Brain control
b. Myoelectric control detects the electric signals caused by muscle contractions, which are
both much stronger, and more localized, than electric signals inside the brain.
8. US prosthetic devices
a. A cable operated prosthetic attaches a harness and cable to the opposite shoulder from the
damaged arm.
b. Myoelectric arms sense upper arm muscle movements via electrodes, and open and close
the hand based on that.
c. $3000-$5000
d. $10,000
e. $100,000
f. The Utah Arm 3 is a prosthetic for above-elbow amputations that is the most durable and
dependable myoelectric arm available.
9. Afghan economic and health statistics, world health organization
a. 50
b. $44
c. $1060
d. $8000/$1060 = 7.54, $9000/$1060 = 8.49
e. $38 / $44 = .86, $48 / $44 = 1.09
f. $100000/$1060 = 94.34
g. 94.34 / 50 = 1.89