#prosthetics – @babufactory on Tumblr

@historyinmemes

The Dublin Arm was invented in 1921, It was a significant advancement in artificial limb technology. It operated using a Bowden cable mechanism, where cables connected to the individuals residual limb enabled hand or hook movements. By contracting specific muscles, the user could control the cables, allowing them to grasp objects and perform various tasks with improved dexterity. This pioneering prosthetic limb set the foundation for future advancements in the field.

troglobite

this appears to be the original source of the video, which above has been flipped in some places and edited/reorganized (presumably to avoid copyright, since this is from a film production and archive organization).

from the notes, they link to this

'P & K' artificial left arm, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1920-1925 | Science Museum Group Collection

Above elbow prosthesis with a leather socket, fibre forearm, heavy metal wrist unit with long lever to operate the flexion and extension of

collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk

which is not called the dublin arm (it was created in belfast) and which does not operate the way described by the op. in the original video i linked, you can see the man tighten and loosen the grip of the artificial hand, himself, by cranking a lever.

it's less clear how the cigarette and glass of water are grasped in the video, but presumably the hand was pre-cranked, or there was some other way of achieving the grip in those positions.

another video about its creation

P&K prosthetic arm | 41000 British soldiers required amputation after WW1 but at the time the current design for the prosthetic limb was lim

41000 British soldiers required amputation after WW1 but at the time the current design for the prosthetic limb was limited. Then came the

facebook.com

also this

P & K ARM (Prosthetic arm)

The end of the First World War saw 41,000 British men return with a physical impairment. Although promised a hero’s welcome, these men were

Curating for change

includes a quote towards the bottom that mentions that the arm was heavy, expensive, and difficult to use/operate because it required a lot of strength

this is basically the consensus today among folks with missing arms, in particular. they're usually bulky and uncomfortable, difficult and non-intuitive to operate, and not preferred in general. they're also REALLY expensive and take forever to get used to, making it just not worth it.

there was a post going around on here (i can't find it right now, but if someone else can, please link it) about how scifi always has these bionic arms because they look cool--and because, similar to the p&k arm, it offers some variety of cool tool uses. the hammer, screw/crank, and other tool attachments are pretty cool and probably were very useful to those who were builders and had lost their arm in the war.

but it doesn't reflect the reality of prosthetic limbs, even today.

so this is a really cool piece of technology! the information included isn't quite right because it's one of those things that gets tossed around, sourceless and contextless, on various repost-heavy accounts on social media. so here^^ are the original video source with the correct name, attribution, and information about how it operates.

#prosthetics #huh :000 #wow #history #reblog #not mine