7/31/14 - A local producer of prosthetics held a gathering at his Hartland offices last night to educate his patients about new technology to replace amputated digits. David Van Auker is an artist, making custom prosthetics for lost limbs and damaged faces in the studio he created in his home. His company, Genesis Prosthetic Arts, treats dozens of patients every year, providing them with lifelike silicone prostheses for their faces and hands, as well as customized artificial legs. Yesterday, he invited some of his patients to his office to educate them on new options available for people who had lost only part of their hands. New prosthetic hands, called i-Limbs, use myoelectric technology to detect small signals from the brain in the patientâs remaining hand. They use those signals to control individual fingers on the device, unlike old devices which had only one motor and could only move all of the fingers at once. They are even programmable using an iPad, so specific positions or gestures can be saved and easily called back. Patients were able to examine the devices, learn more about how they are used, and get tested to see if they could produce signals compatible with their controls. Van Auker says these artificial hands represent a big advancement for those who have lost fingers without losing their whole hand, who have historically been short on viable options. Whole-hand models are available as well. Before factoring in payment assistance or insurance coverage, the advanced devices cost tens of thousands of dollars apiece. (TD)
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