Phantom Limbs, Phantom Pain, And The Essay

Phantom Limbs, Phantom Pain, And The Essay
Phantom Limbs, Phantom Pain, And The "I–Function"
The so–called "I–function" which describes the brain's sense of self takes on interesting
connotations when discussing phantom limbs and associated phantom pain. The loss of an arm or
leg through amputation is not an easy experience to endure, and is even more difficult when the
patient begins to feel sensations in their now missing limb. These feelings, sometimes referred to as
"stump hallucination", is the subjective sensation, not arising from an external stimulus, that an
amputated limb is still present (1). Although they no longer exist, patients perceive these limbs as
still being essential components of their body–image, and continues to move in sync with their torso
and other ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Since there is no visual feedback, initiating motor intention does not activate proprioreceptors (4).
Over time, phantom limbs are deemed by the amputee to be overflexed, which causes a cramping
pain. The question that arises is, if the inconsistency between the intention of the brain and the
perception of the body's actions was to be resolved, could the phantom pain also be eliminated?
Several theories have been developed over the years that have attempted to answer this question,
most notably by Ronald Melzack and Vilayanur Ramachandran.
The earliest hypothesis regarding the cause of phantom limbs and pain was that of neuromas. These
were thought to be nodules comprised of remaining nerves located at the end of the stump. These
neuromas presumably continued to generate impulses that traveled up the spinal cord to portions of
the thalamus and somatosensory domains of the cortex. As a result, treatment involved cutting the
nerves just above the neuroma in an attempt to interrupt signaling at each somatosensory level (5).
This and other related theories were deemed unsatisfactory because of the fact the phantom pain
always returned, indicating that there was a more complex reason.
Psychologist Ronald Melzack developed the concept of the neuromatrix and the neurosignature.
This idea held that the brain contained a neuromatrix or a network of neurons that analyzed the
sensory information and allowed the perception of
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All About a Prosthetic Limb Essay
In prescription, prosthetic limb is a fake gadget that replaces a missing body part. The procedure of
making this known as appendage prosthesis. It is a piece of the field of bio mechatronics, the study
of utilizing mechanical gadgets with human muscle, skeleton, and sensory systems to support or
improve engine control lost by trauma, ailment, or deformity. Prostheses are ordinarily used to
supplant parts lost by harm (traumatic) or absent from conception (intrinsic) or to supplement
imperfect body parts. Inside the body, manufactured heart valves are in like manner utilization with
simulated hearts and lungs seeing less normal utilization. Other therapeutic gadgets and supports
that could be considered prosthetics incorporate amplifiers, ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Interestingly, lower limb orthotic gadgets are intended to help, supplement, or increase the capacity
of a current more level limb. The main picture beneath portrays a lingering appendage succeeding
removal. The second picture is an illustration of above–knee prosthesis.
Left, above–knee prosthesis with a quadrilateral attachment, a hip joint and pelvic band suspension,
endo–skeletal parts with a nonessential froth blanket and hose, a solitary hub knee, and a vitality
putting away foot. Below are classes of knee gadgets, and each producer has numerous alternatives.
More than 200 knees are right now accessible Page # 8
Single–axis, constant friction
Polycentric without fluid control
Weight–activated stance control Manual lock
Above limb

Dominant Limb
Handedness is closely associated with the term dominant arm/leg in that it refers to the limb an
individual is more comfortable using when it comes to motor skills. Research has shown the
dominant limb is stronger, faster, and more accurate in certain tasks than the non–dominant limb. A
couple theories try to explain why there is this difference and the neurophysiological aspect of how
it works. The open versus closed loop hypothesis of handedness refers to the motor response from
sensory information in order to correct movements. The dynamic dominance of handedness
hypothesis states the non–dominant limb is responsible for maintaining static positions or postures
while the dominant limb is in control of the path taken when the limb is moved. ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
When comparing the 20 and 40 degree angles, the error was almost doubled in the dominant arm at
40 degrees than at 20. However, the non–dominant arm did not see a significant difference. Overall,
it was seen that the non–dominant arms of the subjects had better accuracy in replicating the target
positions based on proprioceptive feedback, especially when it came to larger scale movements.
These findings are similar to other research, but more is still needed to fully comprehend the
difference between dominant and non–dominant limbs in regards to proprioception and sensory

Phantom Limb Research Paper
Elizabeth Carter
Human Anatomy & Physiology I
11/23/14
Professor Monks
Phantom Limbs When a person loses a limb, it is never a clean cut; whether it be the remnants of
gore from the cut, the trauma of the loss, or the non–physical remnant of the limb itself, known as
Phantom Limb Syndrome. Despite effecting 80% of all amputees, the sensation itself continues to
mystify neuroscientists and is not yet fully understood. The most popularized type of phantom are
the painful ones, seeing as it affects 50–80% of amputees regardless of whether their amputation
was traumatic or done in a hospital for their health, but phantom limbs are not all painful and can
come in many shapes, sizes, and types of sensations. (873) The first description of a phantom limb
was by a 16th century French military ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Some theories suggest it is caused by cortical reorganization within the brain after the loss of several
nerve endings. One of the final operations done by Tim Pons and Edward Taub on the infamous
Silver Spring monkeys revealed that monkeys who were depraved of sensory input from their arms
through deafferentation still had active brain maps for those arms, which were actually processing
input from the face. This is similar to another study done by V.S. Ramachandran of an amputee
using the psuedonym Tom Sorenson, whom lost his arm below the elbow and complained of an itch
in his missing limb. When stimulating certain parts of Sorenson's face, Sorenson reported he could
feel the sensation on his limb and the itch was successfully scratched. An MEG confirmed that
Tom's hand and face map were both receiving input from the stimuli, showing the near–by maps had
blurred together. (129) Although these cases help to support that phantom limb syndrome is a direct
result of the brain scrambling to reorganize itself, there are some that contest it and have other
theories in

Phantom Limb
The author starts off by recalling his personal experiences with phantom limbs. A young boy had a
phantom limb phenomenon. The term phantom limb was first used by Silas Weir Mitchell in 1872.
Phantom limb seems to occur because of the images created by the images of the body and makes
the person always believe that it is all there even after an amputation. The body is basically trying to
make sense of the amputation. It is not actually caused by incorrect neural activity. It is actually
more built from the part of the brain that creates the mental image of the body. Turns out on 90
percent of amputee actually have a phantom limb experience. Researchers have tried to treat
phantom limb with the mirrors and Virtual Reality.
A phantom limb can actually be very painful and debilitating to a person and hinder their daily life.
Severe pain can also cause the patient to reject the use of a prosthetic limb in place of the amputated
one. Sadly most people do not find relief in many of the pain therapy options offered. Often if there
was any pain right ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
We have sadly not found a permanent solution to the problem but are working towards it. As of now,
though, we use mirrors and virtual reality techniques to try and alleviate the pain of phantom limbs.
So far we can say that the brain is partially involved in the problem. It seems that it want to believe
it is still there because it is just supposed to be. We know it is supposed to be there because of the
neuromatrix or our neurosignature. The neurosignature is basically the blueprint of our own body. It
is created from the time or birth and even infants who are born without limbs seem to have the
phantom limb experience. This is a social and individually debilitating problem because of the
severe pain and sometimes confusion if the parietal lobe is damaged. It is so painful most people
cannot even find relief from therapy

Advancements in Prosthetic Limbs
CHAPTER 1 Introduction
Prosthesis is a term used for replacing a human body part which has been damaged or cut accidently
with an artificial one. Hybrid prosthetic limb is a combination of mechanical and electrical circuit in
which a controller gives command to electrically driven motor for the gripper opening and closing.
Signal for the gripper opening or closing is acquired from the other shoulder movement. A strap on
the shoulder is tied to a string which switches on or off the limit switch to give a trigger signal. This
trigger signal actuates the motor in the gripper to perform open or close operation.
In the past few years prototype has been going under many modifications. Last year it was
completed but few flaws were there. Spring Mechanism was used by previous degree but it was not
reliable as due to excess use spring lost its elasticity and could not be used for triggering. Spring
mechanism was also not aesthetically good. A lot of aesthetics was to be done. To cater for this
problem we used limit switch for efficient triggering and made compact circuitry using 8 pin
controllers and added much to aesthetics of limb.
Literature Review
Prosthesis is a term used for replacing a human body part which has been damaged or cut accidently
with an artificial one. Earliest users of prosthesis were Ancient Egyptians. Due to war injuries they
used prosthetic limbs to look complete. A prosthetic toe was found on a 3000 years old mummy. An
ancient Greek historian

The History of the Prosthetic Limbs
reduce in the functionality of the prosthetic limbs, it also meant that the cost of prosthetic limbs was
reduced. The reduction in the cost meant that almost everyone was now able to afford the price of a
prosthetic limb, and it was no longer a privileged thing for the rich and powerful, though the
prosthetic limbs of the rich and powerful were constructed primarily using more advanced materials.
In the 19th century, further improvement were made onto the "advanced" prosthetic limbs that
helped shape how prosthetic limbs should be manufactured, and the functionality it should be able to
perform. Pieter Verduyn, a mechanic at the time, created the first non–locking below–knee
prosthesis, which would soon be the blueprint for all other joint and corset devices. Following in the
footsteps of Verduyn and his blueprints, James Potts managed to designed a prosthetic leg which
included an articulating foot that was controlled by catgut tendons primarily from the knee to the
ankle. In addition to the articulating foot, the prosthetic limb design include a steel knee joint and
was constructed using a wooden shank and socket. Potts's design would later be recognized as the
"Anglesey Leg" after it was used by Marquis of Anglesey after the great battle of Waterloo. The
"Anglesey Leg" designed by James Potts had the functionality that prosthetic limbs should have, but
it lacked the natural movement and the natural look of a leg. In order to resolve this minor problem,
Dr Benjamin F.

Limb Loss
The Statistics that Ignite Research
Limb loss has long plagued United States Service men and women . Ranging from the Union Army
during the Civil War was more than "21,000 combat–related amputations suffered (2012 2). Besides
the repercussions of war, about 5,000 veterans may have faced amputation from disease or accidents
each year (Dao,2010). As for today Improvised Explosive Devices and landmines are a prominent
cause of veterans acquiring injuries that result in amputations. There is a large population of about
32,200 wounded that have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan and of those 1,450 have lost more
than one or more limb (Matthews, 2012, p. 25). With the increase of return war amputees the United
States Military has invested large ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For some amputees, there may be a physical and emotional pain with the lost of a limb. Bionics may
not look and feel like a biological limb, but it comes close in providing the functions and fills the
blank space of a missing limb. Providing individuals with bionic prosthetic technology assists in the
reduction of health care cost by enabling an individual to maintain an appropriate activity level.
Bionic limbs "enables people to return to work and other important daily activities faster and easier
than before" ( Hixenbaugh, 2010, p. 721). With the use of bionics an amputee can walk with a
natural gait and reduce the occurrence of stress on other joints ( Hixenbaugh, 2010, p. 725). This
alleviates the chance of chronic or acute pain. An amputee can achieve a close to normal or normal
metabolic energy exertion and reduced the amount of energy exerted from the amputee (
Hixenbaugh, 2010, p. 725). This may give the wearer the ability to withstand longer minor physical
activities, such as walking for longer periods of time. Individals that wear BioM walk at 23% faster
than the speed of wearing a traditional prosthetic ( Hixenbaugh, 2010, p. 725). This gives an
amputee to walk at a natural speed. Through the use of external input bionics use, amputees gain the
ability to safely walk on different terrains and stairs. Overall bionic prosthetics improve quality of
life for amputee veterans as well as other individuals with

Phantom Limbs: http://www.youramazingbrain.org.uk/brainchanges/phantomlimbs.htm

What does it feel like to have a missing/paralyzed limb? I'm sure this question has popped into many
of our heads at one point in time. You would think that the sensations and feelings from that limb
would disappear altogether. However, for some people, they can still feel the presence of their limb
even after it is gone. There is no clear answer as to why this happens, but one thing is for certain. A
large percentage of people with phantom limbs will sometimes feel pain from that missing limb.
There is nothing happening to the individual physically that would cause them to feel pain from
their phantom limb. What is actually happening is that the nerves that are located at the area of
amputation (the "stump") are sending signals to the brain, which tricks the brain into believing that
the missing limb is still there. It is hypothesized that the brain may also interpret these signals as
pain. I found this to be an interesting topic, as it gives a good example as to how our brains and
nervous systems work when interpreting changes in the body.
Caffeine: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/caff.html ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
The caffeine in coffee doesn't actually give us energy, not directly at least. In our brains is a
chemical called adenosine, which is associated with drowsiness, or sleep. Caffeine takes up the
adenosine receptor slots in the brain. In essence, it is preventing your brain from growing tired. This
is how coffee gives us the feeling of "wakefulness". In addition to this, the caffeine also causes your
heart rate to increase, your blood vessels to constrict, and your air passages to relax. Furthermore,
you're brain will start to notice all of the activity occurring, which in turn activates our fight or flight
response, releasing adrenaline into our

Phantom Limbs: Sensations When There Should be None Essay
Phantom Limbs: Sensations When There Should be None
The phenomenon known as the phantom limb occurs in 95–100% of amputees. It can occur soon
after amputation or occur years later. It is when patients feel sensations where the arm or leg used to
be as if it were still there. These sensations can be either non–painful sensations or painful
sensations, which are called phantom limb pain. These non–painful sensations are described as
similar feels as if the limb were there such as warmth, tingling, itching, and movement. Phantom
limb pain is described as stabbing, cramping, burning and shooting pain. Non–painful sensations
usually occur soon after amputation and continue throughout life. It has been found that the
strongest sites for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Melzack found that the phantom limb occurred by rain or by dreams where it was thought that there
were two normal hands. An 11 year old girl reported that she felt pain in her fingers (she had no arm
below the elbow) if she bumped her funny bone. Others have said that they felt tingling, itching or
even numbness in arms or legs that they did not have. (3).This study concur the findings of a Swiss
group who had a woman with no limbs that still felt movement when they stimulated parts of her
brain that usually sense limb movement magnetically. (4).
Learning that people who were born without limbs can experience phantom limbs have made
scientists reevaluate the theories they have about how the nervous system develops. The Swiss
group showed through experience performed on this woman that her brain still has a sensory map
for the limbs that she does not have. If was believed before that if a person did not have an arm that
they did not develop the neurons to feel an arm. It is believed that for amputees that the neurons that
used to receive feelings from the limbs are still firing which is the cause of phantom limbs. But with
this woman, magnetic resonance imaging showed neuronal activity in parts of the brain, when she
said she was moving her phantom limb. (4).
Phantom limb occurs not only in those who lose a limb or were never born with one, it can occur in
people who are paraplegic that have a complete break in the spinal cord. Even though no signals can
get

Modern Day Improvements to Prosthetic Limbs
Prosthetic limbs have been around for centuries, but what is one thing they all have in common?
They have all been a nuisance. In recent years technology of the modern day Prosthesis has ventured
to new heights, but they have not perfected an artificial limb yet. With the amount of people in need
of prosthetic limbs, the demand for a perfect prosthesis is tremendous. The perfect prosthesis
shouldn't feel or even look like an artificial limb. Prosthetics should go unnoticed throughout the
rest of the amputee's life. Modern prosthetic limbs have become very advanced in the last decade.
They now have the ability to grip objects, have running limbs, and many more wonderful things.
Although these prosthetics are great, they are lacking some key extras that amputees would relish.
What amputees really want is their sense of feeling back. They want to reach out with their
prosthetic limb and be able to tell if the stove is on or off. They want to be able to press the gas of an
automobile. This sense, that all non–amputees take for granted, would be a great place to start the
improvement of the perfect prosthetic limb. To accomplish such a daunting task, engineers must
figure out an alternative source that could interact with the amputees still intact nerve endings. This
way they can use their still functioning nerves to communicate with their pseudo–nerve and have the
ability to move their prosthesis around with complete control of it and its sense of touch. I believe
this has not

The Phantom Limb
The phantom limb pain the woman is experiencing is described as a painful condition of the
amputated limb after the stump has completely healed. It is a chronic pain that occurs in more than
80% of amputees especially those who suffered pain in the limb before the amputation. Theories
suggest that phantom limb pain results from redevelopment or hyperactivity of cut peripheral
nerves, scar tissue or neuroma formation in the cut peripheral nerves, spinal cord deafferentation,
and alterations in the thalamus and cortex. More so, the CNS integration, which involves
reorganization and plastic modifications of the somatosensory cortex, effects the receptors in
perceiving the pain of the amputated limb despite of the limb itself being absent. In addition, ...
Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The three categories include, A–delta (Aδ) fibers, C fibers, and A–beta (Aβ) fibers. The A–delta
fibers are medium lightly myelinated fibers that are stimulated by mechanonociceptors a severe
mechanical deformation, or mechanothermal nociceptors which is extremes of temperature. The A–
delta fibers causes reflex withdrawals before pain stimulus is induced in the body. The C fibers are
small unmyelinated and are stimulated by mechanical, thermal, and chemical nociceptors. They
convey the dull, aching, or burning feeling that are poorly localized and the feeling stay longer. The
A–beta fiber are large myelinated fibers that transmit touch and vibration feelings but not the pain
feeling. However, they play part in pain modulation (McCance & Huether, 2014).
Both the A–delta fibers and C fibers are responsible for causing the woman phantom limb pain. She
has suffered a severe mechanical deformation of amputation below the knee and the C fiber
transmission of the dull, aching sensation to her amputated stump. For some patients, phantom limb
pain gets better as time goes by. However, some patient may require treatments to manage the pain
(McCance & Huether,

Phantom Limb Pain
Furthermore phantom limb pain is simply a sensation of pain. A patient experiences the pain in an
affected extremity that no longer exists (McCance & Huether). Although nerve fibers have the
capability to regenerate this is a time consuming process that does not always yield a fully
functional nerve (Subedi & Grossberg, 2011).
Nociceptors are free nerve endings in the afferent peripheral nervous system (PNS) that selectively
respond to different stimuli. The differences are related to the stimulus which they respond to and
the properties of the nerve fibers associated with them. There are three types A, B and C groups
based on their diameter. There are numerous types of nerve fibers that have nociceptors. These are
the free endings at the

Prosthetic Limb
GENERAL INFORMATION
The method of making a biocompatible prosthesis is made from a substrate of electro–conductive
material whose surface is exposed to a biological environment, such as living animal tissue or blood,
to impart to said material biocompatibility at the site of exposure.
Artificial limbs is a fake part of your body that can replace a limb that you may have lost. They are
very useful to many people
Biocompatibility is the capability of a prosthesis implanted in the body to exist in harmony with
tissue without causing deleterious changes".
A transtibial prosthesis is an artificial limb that replaces a leg missing below the knee.
A transtibial amputee is usually able to regain normal movement more readily than someone with a
transfemoral ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
2. Have traditional technologies been modified or improved through the use of biotechnology?
The history of biomechanical involve many modifications through its creation,it went from wooden
legs and arms to newly desired metal. Whether it be sailing the seas or fighting for your life on the
battlefield!
3. What are the major challenges to research and scientific advancement in this area of
biotechnology?
The main challenges to research in this area of biotechnology: Artificial Limbs, is finding the right
articles that provide the most credible information as possible. There are thousands of cases but
google helps pull out the specific articles I desire from the most view to the least. Although this
struggle is for the reader, the thousands of dollars immunologists pay for equipment and
experiments, knowing there will be a 50/50 chance, is a huge set back for more advanced
discoveries, that put many lives at risk or on hold. The major scientific advancements in the area of
regenerative medicine and biomedical engineering are the immunosuppressive anti–rejection
medications and advanced biomaterials for prostheses construction. These advancements prevent
immune rejection and repairing of the body giving the owners a new chance of service and

Prosthetic Limb Research Paper
Andrew Lustig
Professor Mallard
ECE 101
24 October 2012
Can Anybody Lend A Hand? Prosthetic limbs all started with a very simple problem. Do you just
give up hope when you lose an arm or a leg, or is there some other way to make the best of a
situation? Hope was not given up by us persistent human beings and that is how artificial limbs were
thought of. Instead trying to get around, we thought of artificial legs to help those who have lost
them. Instead of only having one arm, we thought of artificial arms to be able to have two again.
Prosthesis not only brought hope to those who were seriously injured and lost their limbs, but it
helped these people bring their lives back to as normal as it could be. Of course prosthesis did not ...
So for many years people were content with this simple type of prosthetic limb and it wasn't for
about 500 years until it began to progress into something better. The next "wave" of prosthesis came
from Ambroise Pare, a Frenchman born in 1510. He was a surgeon for the French Army and was
prominently known for his treatment to gunshot wounds. He also made great progress in artificial
limbs.
"His 'Le Petit Lorrain', a mechanical hand operated by catches and springs was worn by a French
Army captain in battle. He also devised an above–knee prosthesis consisting of a kneeling peg and a
prosthetic foot. It had a fixed equinus position, a locking knee and a suspension harness, features
that are still in use today" (1117). This hand was the starting point for the advanced prostheses in
existence today as well as the leg he developed. It was the first successful leg to have the locking
knee, suspension harness and the equinus position and it set the bar for other prosthetics to come.
Also Pare was the first to make a prosthesis with joints; "The leg he designed for amputation
through the thigh is the first known to employ articulated joints" (Wilson Jr. 2). The next wave of
progression with artificial limbs came from the Civil War, and with anesthetics present, the surgeries
were improved tremendously. Also the United States government paid for prosthesis for war
veterans so they became more common. There was

Essay about Amputation: A Phantom Limb
Amputation often causes patients to experience sensory illusions that the limb is still present. This is
often called a phantom limb. This sense of having a phantom limb is a natural and frequent
development during the recovery of an amputation. (1) (2) It is reported that at first, the phantom
limb feels normal in size and shape, but in time this illusion of the size of the phantom limb usually
becomes smaller.(1)
Phantom limb pain is a painful sensation experienced in a body part which is no longer part of the
body, often due to amputation.(3) Individuals also reported that tingling as well as various types of
pain have occurred, and these sensations may eventually disappear or may persist as cramping,
shooting, burning or crushing ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
(5)
A therapeutic approach that has the potential to temporarily resolve the visuo–proprioceptive
dissociation described in phantom limb pain is mirror therapy.(4) Mirror therapy was exposed by
Ramachandran and Rogers–Ramachandran in 1996.(3) When doing mirror therapy, a patient is
allowed to feel the imaginary movement of the amputated limb as normal body movement through a
mirror by moving their intact limb while watching the reflection in a mirror. This induces the
illusory perception of movement of their phantom limb. (3) (4) (6) The mirror image of the normal
limb is believed to help reorganize and integrate the difference between proprioception and visual
feedback and representations of the amputated limb, thus enhancing the treatment effect for
phantom limb pain through the illusion or imagery of movement of the

Helping Phantom Limb Pain Essay
Helping Phantom Limb Pain
Over the years scientists have noted many complaints of a strange form of pain called phantom limb
pain. This pain is strange because it is located in an appendage that no longer exists. By many of the
amputees the pain is described as totally unbearable. Phantom limb pain has even driven some
victims crazy. For the amputee population this is a very real problem that definitely needs to be
solved.
After James Peacock had his right arm amputated last December, he expected some difficulties.
With those difficulties came pain so unbearable it could not be controlled with all the medicine in
his cabinet. Derek Steen, otherwise known as "The one–armed pool player," lost a limb in a
motorcycle accident at the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
When a body part is lost the corresponding part of the brain is not able to handle the loss and rewires
its circuitry to make up for the signals it was no longer receiving from the missing digit. The
rewiring might occur in one of two ways. Perhaps nerve impulses in the sensory cortex begin to
course down previously untraveled pathways. The second theory is that neighboring neurons in the
cortex may actually invade the territory left fallow because sensations are no longer received from
the missing limb.
Birbaumer, Lutzenberger, Montoya, and Wolfgang (1997) examined the functional relationship
between cortical reorganization and phantom limb pain. Neuroelectric source imaging was used to
determine changes in cortical reorganization in the somatosensory cortex after anesthesia of an
amputation stump produced by brachial plexus blockage in six phantom limb pain patients and four
pain–free amputees. This cortical reorganization was studied to examine whether the neurons
rewired after the loss of an appendage. Three of the phantom limb subjects experienced a virtual
elimination of current phantom pain. The Biraumber et al., (1997) result of the anesthesia was a very
rapid elimination of cortical reorganization in the somatosensory cortex. In three phantom–limb–
pain amputees pain was not reduced by brachial

Limb Reduction And The Prosthetic Rehabilitation Process
Introduction
There is an estimated 1.9 million people living with an amputated limb in America, each day 500
more Americans loss a limb (Ziegler et al., 2008). Of those who lose a limb later in life, 60–80% of
them experience phantom limb pain. (Nikolajsen et al., 2001) Phantom limb pain refers to a pain or
sensation that seems to come from the limb that was amputated. ( Nikolajsen et al., 2001) Of those
who are congenital amputees, an estimated 1500 of them are born with upper limb reduction, while
750 of them are born with a lower limb reduction. (Canfield et al, 2006) Limb reduction refers to a
defect during birth that causes a part of a limb or the entire limb to fail to fully form during
pregnancy. ( Vasluian et al, 2013) A look within the quality of life of these various forms of
amputees may produce viable information that could be used to assist in the prosthetic rehabilitation
process.
With such differences within the amputee community, there could be a possibility of certain factors
uniquely effecting the quality of life before, during, and after prosthetic rehabilitation. Amputees
and prosthetics are often viewed from a general perspective by the public. We often do not look
further then what we see with our eyes, allowing sympathy to take the place of genuine research
regarding amputees and prosthetics. The rehabilitation process for those who require limb prosthesis
can be long, grueling, and emotional taxing (O'Keeffe, 2011). The prosthetic rehabilitation

Replacing Amputated Limbs with Prosthetics
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Prosthetic limb is an artificial device that is used to replace the
amputated part of the patient's limb. Myo prosthetic limb takes the signals from the patient's
muscles, which are live, to operate the artificial limb that is being used to replace the amputated part
of the arm. Through the mechanical and electrical technologies' applications it tries to copy the
movement of the actual limb. In most cases, the bicep or triceps muscles can be used to retrieve
those signals which are to be processed further through circuitry. Other than that, any other muscle
that is active and can give the slight electrical signal can be used to process the signal. Myo
prosthetic limb comprises of electrical portion, that is the circuitry, as well as the mechanical portion
that is the actuator and gripper. The signals that are received can be used to actuate the gripper
through which any object can be picked, held and released as per the requirement of the patient.
Multiple prototypes were developed and improved in the previous years. But they needed few
improvements to make them work perfectly. The improvements were done this year. The signal
acquisition and gripper actuation were improved which resulted in the more efficient response of the
limb. The response of the gripper was greatly improved as well. The overall reliability of the system
was increased significantly and was brought to a level where it could be represented as a product.
The circuitry was

Below Knee Amputation Essay
In the United States alone, 1.9 million Americans who undergone a limb amputation. The most
common surgery is the below knee amputation with about half of lower–limb amputations being
below limb amputations. Each year in the United States it is estimated that 185,000 amputations are
executed. In 2012 3,475 of those amputees were located in the state of Tennessee. From the years
2001 to 2012 there were 42,941 amputations preformed in the state of Tennessee. While that number
seems large, it only accounted for 2.5 percent of the amputation procedures that were done in the
United States during these years. Because in the increase in education and training that surgeons and
therapist undergo, most patients with below knee amputations are able to recover fully or get close
to their previous levels of activity. Even with this amount of success and growth with this type of
surgery, there is still a large range of patient's success ranging from wheel chair bound to running
and competing in ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This type of loss can effect patients different, so recovery and treatment varies for every patient that
undergoes below knee amputation surgery. 1,2
There are many different reasons for patients to undergo a below knee amputation surgery. In adults,
the leading cause of this surgery is vascular disease. This can also include complications that can be
associated with diabetes and peripheral arterial disease. In 2009 there were 68,000 amputations that
were caused by complications cause by diabetes. The other two causes for amputations are trauma
or traumatic accident and cancer. While cancer only accounts for two percent of amputations,
trauma make up forty–five percent of amputees.1 One of the most common traumatic accidents that
causes amputations is accidents that are war–related. A study was conducted called the
"Intermediate rehabilitation outcome in below–knee amputations: descriptive study

Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy
Overall, the lack of dystrophin in DMD individuals causes many problems in different aspects of
metabolism. It has a massive effect on muscles, affecting the shoulders, hips, calves, thighs, pelvic
area first. Like other muscular dystrophies, DMD affects the voluntary muscles first and then will
progress into other muscles. Limb–girdle muscular dystrophy is another type out of the many that
affect voluntary muscles. Specifically, it targets the hips and shoulders.
Limb–girdle muscular dystrophy is another disease that causes weakness and wasting of the
muscles. Limb–girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) is an extremely rare disease that specifically
affects the bony structures that surround the hip and shoulders. The bony structures that surround ...
Autosomal dominant LGMD occur less often than recessive dominant LGMD. In the metabolism
myotilin gene mutations occur, it may be due to a deficiency of vitamin B12, vitamin E, folate or
exposures to nitrous oxide. LGMD 1A disease normally occurs from the age 42 to 77, and develops
in the same areas (hip, shoulder and back) however, it could spread to the leg muscles. Due to the
fact that myotilin gene is mutated, it causes focal myofibrillar destruction to occur, and this results
in intracytoplasmic deposits to float around in the blood stream. In one case study done in Barcelona
in 2011, there were 13 patients who were all diagnosed with myotilin gene mutation disease. The
results showed that the deposits of myofibrillar became immune to myotilin and cluster up the
vacuoles and interfere with the Z–lines. Overall the study revealed that each patient shared the same
phenotypic characteristics, LGMD 1A and myofibrillar myopathy variations which emphasizes that
LGMD is a developing neuromuscular disorder (Montse,

Above Elbow Amputation Case Study
The Musculoskeletal diagnosis for this case study is a Right Above Elbow amputation. An Above
Elbow amputation is an amputation "from the supracondylar region to the axillary fold"
(www.orthrofrocs.com). An individual loosing an arm will be faced with many challenges, more so
with loosing it above the elbow. The ability to preserve the length of the limb "allows for better
movement, and enhances the fit of the prosthesis"(emedicine.medscape.com). The more proximal
the amputation the less functional the stump will be. This amputation will cause the loss of the hand,
wrist elbow, but good shoulder function will continue( Deverix, Papdapoulos, p.656). The most
common cause of an amputation above the elbow is Trauma(Ganz, Gulick, Smurr , & Yancoseck). ...
Depending on the reason for an amputation, the amputation can be possibly avoidable with
medicine. In termsof a traumatic above elbow amputation medicine is not typically an option for
salvage of the limb. Unless reattachment is possible. Safety precautions are ways to greatly reduce
the cause of a traumatic amputation(posna.org). Furthermore being educated in manner in which to
use the machinery appropriately. An Example will be driving with seat belt on, and not under the
influence of drugs and alcohol. In relation to industrial accidents proper use of machinery, and
inspection of the machinery is critical for safety, and avoidance of a traumatic disaster. Occupational
Therapist view a client holistically and understand that engagement in occupation is essential to
support health and quality of life(OTPF,2008). The Occupational Therapist Practioner will be
concerned with many aspects of the client factors. In terms of belief, Jing believed he would not be a
productive part of society with out his arm. He feared he no women would want. These feeling can
be attributed to the Chinese culture His emotional aspect has been affected. His gesture and facial
expression shows the difficultie of adjusting to the

Phantom Limb Syndrome Summary
Dr. Ramachandran has devised an experiment that he says has to be tested on many more patients
with phantom limb syndrome before he can be certain that it will help amputees with phantom limb
pain. He uses what he calls a "mirror–box", testing this with another patient named James Peacock
who lost his right hand and has severe pain in his missing hand and as though the missing hand is
constantly clenching. Dr. Ramachandran explains that this patients brain is sending signals to his
missing limb trying to clench it, but because the limb isn't there is unable to send messages back to
the brain letting it know that it's clenching too much or too fast. He theorized, "That maybe the brain
can be fooled by visual feedback?" So, taking a wooden box dividing it with a mirror that is facing
the limb ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The brain is then fooled when the visual feedback sends signals to the brain making it believe the
hand is unclenched and in turn helped to stop James pain in his phantom limb.
Another patient of Dr. Ramachandran is Gram Young, who at the age of 8 lost his sight in a road
accident that caused brain damage to main visual center which takes up half of the large region in
the back of the brain. Gram explained that he would walk into things as big as pillars much like
those at a train station because he couldn't see them, but he can still see. It's a very rare paradoxical
condition referred to as blind sight. This condition allows the patient to detect a thing, but isn't
aware of what it is. Gram can see to the left, but is blind to everything on the right in both eyes. To
test this Collin Blakemore an Oxford scientist, used a panel divided by line down the middle, the left
side white, while the right side a light blue, of which Gram couldn't see. When placing something in
Gram's field of vision on the left he can see it if

Phantom Limbs Essay
Phantom Limbs
Phantom Limb Pain (PLP) is a serious condition that occurs when a person who has lost a part of
their body though amputation, trauma (brachial plexus), or loss of nervous connections in an
appendage, perceives that the limb is still there and experiences sensations coming from this area. It
was first described in 1866 by S. Weir Mitchell, an American neurologist, through a short story
published in Atlantic Monthly. While Mitchell may then have wondered if this was specific to
wounded Civil War soldiers, it has since been established as quite common (1). Over 70% of
amputees report phantom limb pain for years after amputation (2). Several theories have been
proposed regarding PLP, although there is still much to be ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Data indicated that PLP is related to, and may be a consequence of, plastic changes in the primary
somatosensory cortex, and that the shift of the cortical map following amputation might be a
potential neurophysiological basis of PLP (6).
Further studies in 1998 investigating the re–mapping component in the brain were conducted by
researchers at the University of Toronto and The Toronto Hospital. The study recruited amputees
who experienced phantom pain for surgery to map the sensory areas in the brain. During the
mapping process, the conscious patients reported sensations they felt when certain areas of the
thalamus were stimulated. Patients reported phantom sensations when areas of the thalamus were
stimulated that formally were innervated by neurons from the missing arm, and also when areas on
the stump were stimulated that activated these reorganized regions in the brain. Neurons were shown
to continue to carry out their original roles, but with different sources of activation (7).
While persuasive, the aforementioned experimental conclusions are well critiqued by Ronald
Melzack who argues against looking to the somatosensory cortex or thalamus as the only cause of
phantom pain in his April 1992 Scientific American article. He states: Such changes in the
somatosensory thalamus or cortex could explain why certain feelings arise in limbs that no longer
exist or can no longer

Effects of Toning Shoes on Lower Extremity Gait...
In the article titled, "Effects of toning shoes on lower extremity gait biomechanics" by Brian Horsak
and Arnold Baca, it discusses whether the athlete needs specific tone shoes to promote muscle
activity in the lower limbs. Advertisements and new technology constantly push for the best athletic
shoe in the market, a shoe that promotes stability, activity, support and reduction of injuries. This
article conducts research to test whether athletic shoes help aid the athlete. One of the shoes that is
tested is the easy tone shoes by Reebok. The study's primary focus is whether the tone shoe can
increase activity in gait patterns. Another shoe that is advertised to tone the muscles and increase
activity, posture, stability, and health is the fitflop. The fitflop is dense so the instability and the
firmness of the shoe helps to tone the muscles in the leg by increasing activity due to the unstable
environment. Furthermore, I hypothesize that due to new technology and research being conducted,
the fitflop and the easy tone shoes provide the athlete better physical quality. Therefore, I predict
that athletic tone shoes are essential to the performer. In the article by Horsak and Baca the easy
tone shoes are tested to see whether muscular activity in the leg and gait patterns increase. The shoes
are made with two pods one is located in the front of the shoe and the other pod is in the heel. The
pods purpose is to increase instability and to keep the person

Phantom Limb Pain Research Paper
Phantom Limb Pain: Characteristics, Mechanisms, & Treatments
Phantom limb pain is the onset of pain following amputation of a limb. Stump pain and phantom
sensations are also common versions of this phenomenon. Phantom limb sensation includes any type
of feeling besides pain where a body part is absent and stump pain is specifically located in the
stump. All amputees experience some type of phantom feeling, but for some with severe pain it can
be very difficult to treat. The first person to describe this phenomenon was Ambroise Pare in 1552
and the first person to coin the term "phantom limb pain" was Silas Weir Mitchell in 1871. Since
then there have been different studies of animals and scientists have discovered that there is a
correlation ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
2), is the cortical changes in the brain. When the cortical areas at the site of amputation become
overcome reorganization in the somatosensory and motor cortex occur. The sensation felt in the
missing limb can be explained by afferent nociceptive stimulation of neurons. The awareness of our
self and illusory perceptions might be related to PLP. Because mirror therapy has shown to be
beneficial in the treatment of PLP, it shows that cortical deafferentation plays a key role in phantom
generation. The mirroring and stretching movements of opposite extremity can compensate for the
lack of the other (Ramachandran & Hirstein, 1998, pg.

Prosthetic Limbs Research Paper
When researching prosthetics, one of the fields I was rather interested in exploring was the
technology that goes into the development and design of prosthetics. The topic is unarguably
interesting and becoming more popular for both research and funding purposes. I was curious to see
how the original practice of prosthetics was developed and when they were first used along with
how technological advances throughout time have correlated with developmental advancements in
prosthetics. I was quite surprised after learning that the idea of prosthetic limbs was actually
introduced an extremely long time ago. In the year 2000, researchers in Cairo,
Egypt, unearthed what they believe to be the oldest documented artificial body part –– a prosthetic
toe made of wood and leather. "The ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The science has recently started to become more advanced due to funding and research. Further,
owing to the poor healing capacity of the nervous system and an aging population contributing to
more persons becoming disabled by problems such as stroke and Parkinson's disease, the demand
for prosthetic solutions is growing."2 I read about a meeting that was held that combined 160
different professionals like scientists, engineers, researchers and many others all with the hope of
creating powerful and adaptive prosthetics. The meetings consisted of making the process of
production and performance more efficient. "Materials scientists would kill to be able to produce a
material as amazing as biological muscle, which can retract on command, stretch by about 70%
without damage, and heal its own nicks and tears. Now, researchers say they're getting closer with a
synthetic material that can do all these things, though not as well as natural muscle. The advance
could one day be useful in robotics and prosthetics."3 So it's clear that there are efforts being put
towards the advancement of prosthetics but also towards the research and possible

Hanger Limb Research Paper
Robotic Prosthesis
Prosthesis have been around since the early 1400 century. One of the first functioning limb
replacement was created around the renaissance times. It was a replacement hand for a general who
lost a hand in war. The hand was constructed from copper and steel.
By the late 1500 century, a French Army barber/surgeon Ambroise Paré was to be considered the
father of prosthesis surgery. He was one of the best when it came to saving enough limb to allow for
a prosthetic limb. By this time the advancement in these fake limbs had grown from crude made
hands to fully functioning legs. 'As the U. S. Civil War dragged on, the number of amputations rose
astronomically, forcing Americans to enter the field of prosthetics. james Hanger, one of the first
amputees of the Civil War, developed what he later patented as the "Hanger Limb" from whittled
barrel staves.'(Kim M. Norton) For many years a perfect prosthetic was not a thought. Many people
that had to have a limb cut off would not have a very usable fake limb. Most of the time the
remnants of the limb where down in the field to soldiers and were not done properly. Since the limbs
were cut off very roughly many people would die do to disease. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The prosthesis has gone from a steel mechanical leg to a fully functioning robotic leg. This leg can
walk like a human and make not having a limb no longer a challenge. A downside to these types of
prosthesis is that they are very expensive. And average robotic arm can cost at a minimum of 11,000
dollars according to Aaron Saenz. These arms are a base model to keep in mind. Most of them can't
do things like read impulses from your brain. A new discovery with moving the nerves of an arm to
the lower bicep led to the invention of the first fully functional thought controlled robot prosthesis.
(Jon Hopkins' Applied Physics

Prosthetic Limbs : Past, Present, and Future Essay
Prosthetic Limbs: Past, Present, and Future
Abstract:
The purpose of my research paper is to discover how artificial limbs work in conjunction with the
human body, which plastics are used in prosthetic limbs, and if there are any better possible plastics
out there that can be used. The 1.9 million people in
America who have lost limbs find it hard to pay for them, since they're very expensive, so I looked
into materials used, which are currently plastics such as polypropylene and carbon fibers. However,
there are still some problems such as slow reaction time so manufacturers and laboratories are
looking into alternate solutions such as carbon nanotubes and microchips. Research is expensive
though, so I do not see the cost of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However, yearly, there are around 1.9 million Americans living with
From http://mksviews.files.wordpress.com limb loss (War Fuels Prosthetics). However, many
companies did not pay much attention to the area of prosthetics because of the lack of money they
would get from it. However, with the start of the Iraq War, many companies are trying to find better
and cheaper ways to manufacture well–crafted artificial limbs due to the demands being placed by
soldiers of war who want limbs that function faster and better. Their demands push the limits of
prosthetic technology, which can end up being beneficial to everyone.
Artificial limbs are a type of prosthesis, the artificial extension that replaces a missing extremity,
which are used for when people lose their limbs due to diseases, accidents, or birth defects.
(Prosthetic Limbs). There are different types of prosthesis, such as static prosthesis, simple artificial
limbs like peg legs which do not enable the person to be able to have any sense of touch. Dynamic
prosthesis, the more popular choice, uses sophisticated electronics to let the nerve and muscle
systems of the human body to be able to sense their artificial limb (Prosthetic Limbs). They can
make the nerve and muscle systems sense feeling because it has electrical sensors in the prosthetic
limb to detect the

Artificial Limb Or Prosthetic Limbs
What product did you choose? Briefly describe how the product is made. Provide the link to the
video in case someone wants to review it they do not have to go hunt for it The product I chose was
an artificial limb or prosthetic limb. Preparation method: A prosthetist specialized in the fabrication
and fitting of artificial limbs measures the diameter and circumference of the amputee's residual
limb at different points. Next, patient's residual limb is lubricated with petroleum jelly and immersed
in a can filled with a gelatin like substance that comes from algae called algin. After 5 minutes,
prosthetists remove the residual limb when algyn begins to stiffen to maintain the limb shape. A
couple of hours later, the stiffened algin is ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
I did not observe any indirect labor in this video. The difference between a direct and indirect labor
is– direct labor can be directly involved in the production, whereas indirect labor such as supervisors
and administrative staff do not involve in the direct production. List at least one example of
manufacturing overhead that you observed in the video. How does manufacturing overhead differ
from direct materials and direct labor? The manufacturing overhead that I observed in this video is
cutting machine. Since we cannot incur the cost of the cutting machine to produce an artificial limb,
we can consider the cutting machine as an indirect material. Manufacturing overhead includes the
cost of indirect labor, indirect materials, and factory utilities. We cannot incur these indirect costs to
produce a single product. Direct materials include the material input that can be traced to the cost of
single unit of product. Direct labor such as employees in the production line whose wages can be
traced to the product. How much do you think it costs to make a single unit of this product? List at
least one decision that managers would make based on the cost of the

Research Paper On Phantom Limb
Mustary Akter
Psyc 2301 Section N01
Summer I and 2017
Discussion of Research Topic:
For this final paper I will be writing about phantom limb. Phantom limb is the sensation or pain
which a person feels after he/she has an amputated or missing limb. They feel that their limb is still
attached to the body. Majority of the sensation feel by these people are painful. They often
experience burning, crushing, stabbing, itching, or cramping sensation where the amputated limb
used to be.
Brain is a very complex organ. Brain maps out the body so it receives and sends signal according to
the map. If for some reason a person losses a body part then it affects the brain to misinterpret the
information. Due to the loss of a body ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Summary of the First Research Paper:
The first article named "Phantom Limb Syndrome" has defined the phantom limb syndrome as the
perception of the sensations on the amputated limb. In the article it was mentioned that the brain still
receive messages from removed limb through the nerves. This article has also mentioned that the
exact cause of the syndrome is unknown. In the article it was mentioned that "sensations are due to
the brain's attempt to reorganize sensory information following the amputation. The brain must
essentially rewire itself to adjust to the changes in the body" (Scheinberg, 2015). The article points
out that the adult are more likely to suffer from phantom limb syndrome than children. The article
also mentioned that there are various risk factors which increase the risk of developing the phantom
limb syndrome can be the pre–amputation pain, infection, damage on the spinal cord or nerves that
supplied to the affected limb, blood clot on the amputated limb, etc.
The first article named "Phantom Limb Syndrome" goes more into details describing some
symptoms that may occur on the amputees. The amputated limb can make them feel the sensation of
stabbing, shooting, burning or piercing. They can also feel numbness, tickling or cramping. That is
not all; the amputated limb can also make a person feel pleasure. There can be treatment for the
phantom limb syndrome. After amputation it is very necessary to tell the doctor if there is any
sensation or pain

Sensation & Perception of Phantom Limb Pain
Alec S. Johnson
Ben Denkinger
University of Minnesota
Over time, doctors have seen countless patients that have complained of a strange form of pain
sensation called phantom limb pain. The pain that patients are describing is occurring in appendages
that are no longer part of their bodies. Many of these amputees have described this pain as utterly
unbearable. For the amputee population, this is a very real problem that needs to be solved. Pain that
is occurring in phantom limbs is very common in amputees. Mostly all amputees experience the
sensation of phantom limb pain. Two–thirds of patients experience phantom limb pain, even 25
years after the loss of the limb. (Woodhouse) The vivid experience of a phantom limb often includes
non–painful phantom sensations as which frequently reported in patients with phantom pain
(Woodhouse).
Amputees will not always come forward to their doctor regarding this pain because they believe
their brain is not functioning correctly. However, the brain ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Despite an almost electromyographically silent thigh, the brain was activated during the command
for movements. This assured that the signals surged by the amputee demonstrated the substantial
efforts resulting the alteration of oxygenated hemoglobin. Brodmann's areas 4 and 6 send orders to
the limb that is nonexistent. Phantom limb pain is not just a phenomenon associated with a stump.
The brain has not been damaged, and its areas of command and perception are still intact and in use.
Also, fitting prosthesis immediately after amputation while the patient is still under anesthesia and
then continuously beginning vibratory stimulus training may permit the preservation of perception
in the sensory cortex and become an important factor in avoiding pain. The lower limb, although
artificial is still sensed as "being

Phantom Limbs Case Studies
In this paper we will be discussing the neurological cases of phantom limbs derived from chapter 6,
pages 36 through 39, of the book, The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. In this
chapter, Mr.Sacks discusses the cases of phantom limbs as well as the phenomenon that occur with
it. A phantom is a term that neurologist uses to describe an image or memory of a limb that is no
longer present. The term Phantom was described in great detail by neurologist Silas Weir Mitchell in
1872 during and after the Civil War. Dr. Mitchell described different types of phantoms such as;
ghost–like and surely, which he referred to as a sensory ghost, lifelike and real, extremely painful
phantom limbs while others scarcely had any pain, extremely ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Studies show that the main cause of phantom pain has to do with the brain having a sensory map of
different body parts. Previous research suggests that phantom pain occurs when the sensory map that
represented the now missing limbs is taken over by other representations of body parts such as your
lips and face, this is known as neuronal plasticity. Neuronal Plasticity is the brain's ability to form or
reform synaptic connection after an injury or while learning and or experiencing new things. In a
study conducted by a research institute, they used a magnetic resonance imaging machine, which
measures the changes in blood flow due to brain activity, to scan the brains of amputees, two armed
individuals and people born with one hand. All the participants were given the task to move their
arms and feet and lips. The amputees who experienced phantom pain were told to perform with their
phantom limb while the amputees with no phantom pain and those born with one hand were simply
told to imagine moving their hand or arm. After doing this for a period of time the scans showed that
the that the amputees who experience phantom pain had the same pattern as individuals with both
hands. This means that these individuals were indistinguishable regardless of the circumstances.
Initially, the phantom pain was linked to disrupted activity between different parts of the

Phantom Limb Syndrome
Phantom limb syndrome is an extraordinary condition that is caused by amputating a limb or being
born without a limb (Flor, 2002); This condition affects approximately 80% to 90% of patients who
have had a limb amputated (Flor, 2002). The first documented case of phantom limb syndrome was
in the mid 16th century (Nikolajsen & Jensen, 2001). The description was given by a French
military surgeon by the name of Ambroise Paré (1510–1590) when he noticed that some of his
injured patients would express that they were experiencing extreme pain in their missing limb
(Nikolajsen & Jensen, 2001). He studied and wrote down the characterizations of this post–
amputation state and attempted to create different models to explain how the phantom pain was ...
Phantom limb syndrome and post–amputation pain is far more common in adults than in children,
this would be related to the brains rate or ability to regenerate. A child brain is going to repair much
quicker than an adult, as their brains are still in rapid development (Scheinberg, 2016). Other factors
can play a part and may increase the chances of a patient experiencing this condition, and some of
them include: preamputation pain in the limb that was amputated, a blood clot that formed in the
amputated limb, a preamputation infection, previous damage to spinal cord or peripheral nerves that
supplied the affected limb, traumatic amputation, and the type of anaesthesia that was used during
the operation (Scheinberg, 2016). Nikolajsen and Jensen (2001) state that in paediatric amputees, it
was found that most of the children who were experiencing phantom pain, also expressed feeling
pain before the operation. The symptoms that occur in amputees/people born without a limb can
differ slightly, but all the symptoms are experiences in a limb that no longer exist (Scheinberg,
2016). The symptoms of phantom limb syndrome include; shooting, stabbing, and piercing
sensations, pleasure, one may feel the sensation of clothing or jewelry touching the missing limb,
other experience their limb feeling as though it is still attached and functioning normally, and lastly
patients can experience sensations of numbness, tickling, or even a cramping sensation (Scheinberg,

Robotic Prosthetics Vs. Real Limbs
We are all so used to using our limbs, most of us wouldn't know what to do without them. However,
some people, because of accidents or sickness, have lost theirs. Through the use of prosthetics, they
can have some of that use back, though it still can't compare to a real limb. But, recent
advancements in robotic prosthetics and a steady increase in capabilities show that prosthetics may
eventually be replaced with robotics, and may become just as good as or better than real limbs.
While robotic prosthetics are a recent development, prosthetics have been around for a long time. In
the Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, It gives a short history of prosthetics. They were
first carved from wood, more than two–thousand years ago, because it ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Prosthetics require pre–programed movements and take practice to be able to use right, although
connecting prosthetics right into our nervous systems could fix this problem(Atzori, Manfredo).
There are also only a few areas on prosthetic limbs right now that can feel. Scientists have been
experimenting with synthetic skin that can feel temperature, to improve senses, but this hasn't been
used on limbs yet. Robotic prosthetics are nowhere near perfect, but advancements like these show
progress toward making this the future of prosthetic limbs.
Robotic prosthetics are in use now, although they aren't nearly as advanced as some of the ones just
mentioned. Some amputees have them, and they are able to perform basic tasks like walking and
picking things up. However, movements are still limited and the lack of senses prevents the kind of
precision our own limbs provide. They are also very expensive so most people don't have access to
them. An average robotic leg is around one–hundred thousand dollars, and may not even be very
versatile. Many don't allow much movement, and often are not waterproof. They are a good start,
but have much to

Artificial Limbs
As technology has progressed exponentially, there have been lots of contributions made in the
medical world. One significant contribution is no other than the advancement of artificial limbs.
Artificial limbs augment the abilities of amputees and other patients with malformed body parts, lost
due to trauma and injuries, or never formed due to congenital defect complications. Currently, there
are approximately two million people living with limb loss just in the United States alone. Out of the
two million people suffering with limb losses, 82% of them are secondary to vascular diseases, 16%
are secondary to trauma related injuries, 11% are secondary to cancers, and the last 1% are due to
congenital deficiencies. With the help of prosthetics, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Another important factor is due to technology advancements. As technology continues to improve,
lighter and more durable prosthetic limbs are becoming available. But this may not decrease the cost
of the limb base on how the economy works. The cost for artificial limbs varies depending on the
parts one needs and whether or not one has insurance. For patients with insurance, the out–of–
pocket costs should be around 10%–50%. The cost for artificial limbs also depends on the patient's
amputation level, condition and needs. If the patient has a higher level of needs then the insurance
would be more likely to pay for a higher percentage of cost or provide a better prosthetic limb to
compensate the needs. However, for patients without healthcare insurance, the cost of prosthetic
limbs would increase drastically. Normally, a basic prosthetic leg can be costed less $10,000, but a
more advanced prosthetic leg would cost up to $70,000 or more depending of the level of
amputation and the type of leg. Not only that artificial limbs are extremely expensive, the cost of a
new limb can add up over a lifetime as well. This is due to the lifespan of a prosthetic limb is often
limited to 3 to 5 years. Therefore, it means that the limb would need to replace every few years and
cost for each new limb are needed to pay for because they are not one time cost. With that being
said, although Obamacare has developed to help citizens with low incomes, better healthcare
insurance need to be implemented to accommodate the increasing needs of

Phantom Limbs: A Neurobiological Explanation Essay
Phantom Limbs: A Neurobiological Explanation
Severely injuring a digit or limb can result in unrepentant damage and amputation. However, the
painful sensations experienced in regard to that limb do not necessarily cease after amputation. The
concept of feeling sensations in a limb that is no longer attached to the body is referred to as feeling
a "phantom limb." This phenomenon is experienced by approximately 80%–100% of all patients
who have lost a limb (1), and has therefore sparked wide interest in scientific community.
Phantom limb sensations are common for people with missing limbs or digits. In most cases, a
phantom arm hangs straight down at the side when the person sits or stands (2). The subject feels as
though the limb is ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However, if the leg is no longer attached to the body, then how can the neurons in the leg transport
signals to the nervous system in order for the body to feel sensations?
One possible explanation is the existence of neurons from the phantom limb even after amputation.
Even though the neuron's axons were cut, the neurons could still be present due to regeneration of
broken axons. This would allow for an action potential to travel back to the spinal cord even though
the leg itself is no longer attached. The sensory neurons are still in tact with the central nervous
system and the body can therefore still feel sensations coming from the missing limb (4).
A study was performed by Merzenich in 1986 in which the index finger of a monkey was
amputated, and signals were monitored in the corresponding part of the monkey's corticol map (3).
Since the monkey's finger was no longer attached to the body, the logical hypothesis is that there
would be no signals coming from the finger's area to the nervous system. However, every time the
two fingers adjacent to that of the amputated one were touched, there were nerve impulses in the
spinal cord. This led the scientists to believe that there are existing axon branches that become
unbranched after normal input ends.
Similarly, Pons et al. demonstrated in 1991 that in adult monkeys in which one or more arms had
been removed, the

Amputated Limb
Abstract
Through previously conducted experiments, it has been shown that amputation results in a reduction
of gray matter in areas in the motor cortex that represent the amputated limb. This study focuses on
the changes in gray matter of amputees with differing intensities of phantom limb pain (PLP). To
analyze two potential causes of transformation in the cortex, the changes of patient's brain structures
with high chronic PLP are compared to patients who did not develop PLP or only mild PLP. In
addition, a second group was tested to specifically focus on patients experiencing intense PLP and
patients with phantom limb sensations (PLS) and slight PLP. This paper gives a detailed summary of
how the research from the article concluded that amputees ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Phantom limb sensations are different from phantom limb pain in that they are sensations without
any pain. These patients were then split into two groups, one with no to slight phantom limb pain
(SPLP) and the other with moderate to severe phantom limb pain (HPLP). The groups did not vary
considerably in the time since the amputation, depression scores or the reasons for amputation. Yet,
they showed a substantial difference in the average age at

Describing Phantom Limb Experience Essay
Describing Phantom Limb Experience
Of people who have had body parts amputated, about 80 percent experience some sort of phantom
limb sensation. This experience, which can range from severe shooting pain to merely feeling the
presence of the absent limb, most often occurs in amputees but sometimes manifests itself in
individuals whose limbs have been missing since birth. The sensations patients experience are not
necessarily of the same strength, location, or duration from occurrence to occurrence, and the
frequency of episodes often fluctuates over time. Especially in the case of amputees, who have lived
a significant portion of their lives with the limb in question, it would make sense that there be a
psychological element to ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This "wiring" between the cerebral cortex and the rest of the body has been the focus of research on
phantom limb pain. From this research, several theories have emerged.
Merzenich and Kaas amputated monkeys' fingers and expected to find no nervous response in the
part of the homunculus whose bodily analog no longer existed. Instead, this region of the cerebral
cortex fired when the fingers next to the amputation site were stimulated. Their conclusion was that
preexisting axon branches that had innervated the region were "unmasked," which allows for
nervous response without any new neuronal growth. This idea upheld Hubel and Wiesel's concept of
the "hardwired" brain, in which the cerebral cortex's map is set at birth. Ramachandran also had a
similar idea of "hidden circuitry," arguing that phantom limb sensation could not be the result of
new neuronal growth as the sensation's onset was often as soon as a month or two after amputation,
which be enough time for the brain to remap but not for new cells to develop.
Pons' research, however, came to conclusions that challenged this hardwired model. His work with
monkeys indicated cortical remapping significant enough that sensation for an entire amputated arm
could be caused by stimulation of the face; this part of the cortex had taken over responding for the
nonexistent arm. Such change in the nervous system would have to incorporate new neuronal
growth.
Case studies described on Macalester's web site seem to

Phantom Limbs, Phantom Pain, And The Essay

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Phantom Limbs, Phantom Pain, And The Essay