A Brief History of Prosthetics

Thousands of years ago, ancient Egypt, China and Rome knew the use of artificial body parts

The peg leg, a centuries-old device, is still common in many places today. The Middle Ages saw the advent of the first movable artificial hand, an iron device with wheels and springs enabling the fingers to be moved by the wearer’s good hand. The huge numbers of wounded during the American Civil War and the two World Wars industrialized prosthetics production. Use of synthetic materials represents a more recent major advance. Today, direct connection to the nervous system enables people to control their devices more naturally.

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