Prosthetics

Replacing what is missing: the Cairo toe, iron hands, the vast prosthetic effort after the First World War, spectacles, hearing aids and dentures.

Part of Medicine

79 moments in this segment.

  1. - BCIAward2013. The jury, organizers, and winner of the 2013 BCI Award. Dated 2013 BC, credited to Alexander Lechner. Prosthetics are designed at the meeting point of engineering and daily life, and the successful ones are the ones people actually wore.
  2. - Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Isaac Appleton Jewett. Manuscript letter Archives Number: 1011/002.001-008#003 Pittsfield. Aug 26th, 1838. Dated 369 BC, credited to Fanny (Appleton) Longfellow (1817-1861). War, industrial injury and disease drove prosthetic design, and each produced different requirements.
  3. - Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Isaac Appleton Jewett. Manuscript letter Archives Number: 1011/002.001-008#003 Pittsfield. Aug 26th, 1838. Dated 1011, credited to Fanny (Appleton) Longfellow (1817-1861). The choice between imitating the body and doing the job runs through the whole history of replacement limbs.
  4. - Kreupele man in driewielig karretje, RP-P-OB-46.569. Identificatie Titel(s): Man in een kar ontvangt muntgeld Amsterdamse straatfiguren rond 1770 (serietitel) Objecttype: prent Objectnummer: RP-P-OB-46.569 Opschriften / Merken: verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 240, tekst, ondermarge, gegraveerd: ‘Veel menschen Rijden tot vermaak;/ Daar ik uit nood, met pijn belaaden,/ word voort getrokken, om een zaak,/ Die niemand duister valt te raaden.’. Dated 1770, credited to Rijksmuseum. Assistive devices were often made to be hidden, which shaped them as much as function did.
  5. - FirstBankofUS03. First Bank of the United States (1797-1811), Stephen Girard’s Bank (May, 1811-1831), subsequent banks, and owned since 1955 by the National Park Service. Location: 116 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Dated 1811, credited to Davidt8. Fit is the hard problem in prosthetics, and the socket has always mattered more than the mechanism.
  6. - 16 21 2404 wheelchair. An object held in the prosthetics material of the free record, catalogued on Wikimedia Commons. Dated 1850, credited to Dsdugan. The wheelchair's history is one of gradually shifting control from an attendant pushing to the user's own hands.
  7. - Breast Form 1874Cox. Drawing accompanying U.S. Patent 146,805 dated January 27, 1874, filed by Frederick Cox. Dated 1874, credited to Patent Zeichnung von Frederick Cox, 1874. Materials drove change, with wood and leather giving way to aluminium, plastics and composites.
  8. - Hearing aid, London, England, 1900-1940. Made from imitation tortoiseshell, this simple device would have fitted over the ear and been hidden under the hair. With the end inserted into the ear it acted like a mini ear trumpet, amplifying sounds to help people who were partially deaf to hear more clearly. Dated 1900 in the Commons record. Ear trumpets were often disguised as canes, fans or furniture, because the deafness was treated as the embarrassment rather than the difficulty of hearing.
  9. - St Mary's Hospital, Plaistow; Basil Hood and Robert Archibal. The image records st Mary's Hospital, Plaistow: Basil Hood and Robert Archibald with patients and nurses, having tea outdoors. Photograph, 1904. Dated 1904 in the Commons record. Cost decides which designs are actually used, so the cheapest workable device usually wins.
  10. - Frank Daniels -- Palm Beach (LOC). An object held in the prosthetics material of the free record, catalogued on Wikimedia Commons. Dated 1910, credited to Library of Congress. Manufacture moved from individual craftsmen to workshops and then to factories.
  11. - Morning Ride, Atlantic City, N. J (NYPL b12647398-74172). * Postcard series number: 71032 1913-1918, issued through 1930. Began the 'contract' issues, cards produced for museums and other organizations. Dated 1913, credited to Detroit Publishing Company. Users modified their own devices constantly, and the adaptations are often the real design record.
  12. - Making glass eye LOC 15602217428. Bain News Service, publisher. Making glass eye [between ca. Dated 1915, credited to The Library of Congress. Assistive technology sits between medicine and everyday equipment, which is why so little of it was collected.
  13. - Artificial Arms (1921). British Pathé sets out Artificial Arms (1921), on material dated 1921. Filed as assistive technology and its makers.
  14. - Patients at a sanitorium, Indiana, USA, c. 1926. A group portrait of twenty-two people, including several hollow-cheeked men (tuberculous?), a woman in a wheelchair, and two little girls. Photograph taken at Cohn-Barnard Sanitarium, Martinsville, Indiana, by Vista Studio, 1926/1929 (?). Dated 1926 in the Commons record. The wheelchair's history is one of gradually shifting control from an attendant pushing to the user's own hands.
  15. - INF3-227 Anti-rumour and careless talk Pay no heed to rumour - official news will be issued fre. Pay no heed to rumours - official news will be issued freely! Dated 1939, credited to Unknown author Unknown author. Prosthetics are designed at the meeting point of engineering and daily life, and the successful ones are the ones people actually wore.
  16. - Vintage Acousticon Model A-145 Vacuum Tube (Body) Hearing Aid, Made In England, Circa 1948. The image records vintage Acousticon Model A-145 Vacuum Tube (Body) Hearing Aid, Made In England, Circa 1948. Dated 1948, credited to Joe Haupt from USA. Ear trumpets were often disguised as canes, fans or furniture, because the deafness was treated as the embarrassment rather than the difficulty of hearing.
  17. - Both-type iron lung, London, England, 1950-1955. The image records both-type iron lung, London, England, 1950-1955 Wellcome Images. Dated 1950 in the Commons record. The iron lung breathed for polio patients by cycling air pressure around the body, and some people lived in one for decades.
  18. - Iron Lung ward-Rancho Los Amigos Hospital GettyImages-515505698. Film publicity photo of an imaginary iron lung ward. Dated 1953, credited to Food and Drug Administration. The iron lung breathed for polio patients by cycling air pressure around the body, and some people lived in one for decades.
  19. - Contact lens (1954). Wellcome Library sets out Contact lens (1954), on material dated 1954. It belongs here as assistive technology and its makers.
  20. - An unidentified woman is recorded reading a statement as Mark Bortman looks on. Title: An unidentified woman is recorded reading a statement as Mark Bortman looks on Creator: U. Air Force Date: circa 1960-1968 Source: Mayor John F. Dated 1960, credited to City of Boston Archives from West Roxbury, United States. War, industrial injury and disease drove prosthetic design, and each produced different requirements.
  21. - Mark Bortman listens to an unidentified man with unidentified members of the U.S. Air Force. Title: Mark Bortman listens to an unidentified man with unidentified members of the U.S. Air Force Creator: U. Dated 1960, credited to City of Boston Archives from West Roxbury, United States. The choice between imitating the body and doing the job runs through the whole history of replacement limbs.
  22. - F 250 miljoen spaarderskapitaal bij Spaarbank Amsterdam Mr Brantsma en mevrouw. Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : F 250 miljoen spaarderskapitaal bij Spaarbank Amsterdam. Brantsma en mevrouw Szwartswalden (99-jarige) Datum : 21 november 1961 Locatie : Amsterdam, Noord-Holland Trefwoorden : Spaarbanken, kapitalen, miljoenen Fotograaf : Bilsen, Joop van / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende : Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort. Dated 1961, credited to Joop van Bilsen for Anefo. Assistive devices were often made to be hidden, which shaped them as much as function did.
  23. - Hearing Aid Museum (1967). British Pathé covers Hearing Aid Museum (1967), on material dated 1967. The value here is replacement and repair as engineering.
  24. - Een patiënt in rolstoel op het dek, Bestanddeelnr 922-6283. Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : Het Rode Kruisschip "J. Henry Dunant" maakt een tocht van een week met 42 jeugdige patiënten, voornamelijk met ademhalings- en hartproblemen Beschrijving : Een patiënt in rolstoel op het dek Datum : 14 juli 1969 Trefwoorden : gehandicaptenvoorzieningen, patiënten, schepen Fotograaf : Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende. Dated 1969, credited to Anefo. Fit is the hard problem in prosthetics, and the socket has always mattered more than the mechanism.
  25. - Vintage Eckstein Bros., Inc. Screening Audiometer, Tetra-Tone Model EB-46, Circa 1975. The image records vintage Eckstein Bros., Inc. Screening Audiometer, Tetra-Tone Model EB-46, Circa 1975. Dated 1975, credited to Joe Haupt from USA. Materials drove change, with wood and leather giving way to aluminium, plastics and composites.
  26. - Eiserne Lunge offen. Eiserne Lunge (geöffnet) im Science Museum, London. Dated 2004, credited to Stefan Kühn. Cost decides which designs are actually used, so the cheapest workable device usually wins.
  27. - Defense.gov photo essay 070402-D-1142M-010. A disabled veteran adjusts his prosthetic during the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colo., April 2, 2007. Dated 2007, credited to William D. Moss. Manufacture moved from individual craftsmen to workshops and then to factories.
  28. - LADEBOY Kofferraum Mini. An object held in the prosthetics material of the free record, catalogued on Wikimedia Commons. Dated 2007, credited to M.Volm. Users modified their own devices constantly, and the adaptations are often the real design record.
  29. - Kuhankuonon rakenteita, Kurjenrahka, Pöytyä, 14.9.2010.. Wheelchair trail in Kurjenrahka National Park, Finland. Dated 2010, credited to Makele-90. The wheelchair's history is one of gradually shifting control from an attendant pushing to the user's own hands.
  30. - New Horizons in Upper and Lower Extremity Prosthetics. Case Western Reserve University examines New Horizons in Upper and Lower Extremity Prosthetics, published in 2010. What it offers is engineering fitted to a particular body.
  31. - The Iron Lung. Melnick Medical Museum sets out The Iron Lung, published in 2011. The value here is assistive technology and its makers.
  32. - 121025-A-JH002-072. Hall, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District, meets with members of the Paralyzed Veterans of America at the Richard B. Dated 2012, credited to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District. Assistive technology sits between medicine and everyday equipment, which is why so little of it was collected.
  33. - U-M Orthotics and Prosthetics: Making a Difference for 100 Years. Michigan Medicine documents U-M Orthotics and Prosthetics: Making a Difference for 100 Years, published in 2012. Kept as machines that stand in for the body.
  34. - Houston Adaptive Skateboarding and WCMX Event. Abel Rose of Waxahachie, Texas leaning back and relaxing at Houston’s first adaptive skateboarding and WCMX event. The event took place March 8, 2013 at Lee and Joe Jamail Skate Park. Dated 2013, credited to Jeff Bourns. Prosthetics are designed at the meeting point of engineering and daily life, and the successful ones are the ones people actually wore.
  35. - New bionics let us run, climb and dance | Hugh Herr | TED. TED presents New bionics let us run, climb and dance, published in 2014. This is the fitted limb, the brace and the pump.
  36. - The Electronic Ear: The First Cochlear Implant, Part 1. House Institute traces The Electronic Ear: The First Cochlear Implant, Part 1, published in 2014. Included as devices that restore or substitute function.
  37. - Amputee Makes History with APL’s Modular Prosthetic Limb. Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory records Amputee Makes History with APL’s Modular Prosthetic Limb, published in 2014. Carried for replacement and repair as engineering.
  38. - The $20 prosthetic knee that could change lives in India. PBS NewsHour examines The $20 prosthetic knee that could change lives in India, published in 2015. Carried for engineering fitted to a particular body.
  39. - Fit socket. An object held in the prosthetics material of the free record, catalogued on Wikimedia Commons. Dated 2015, credited to Willowbl00. War, industrial injury and disease drove prosthetic design, and each produced different requirements.
  40. - Wilder Weg2. Der „Wilde Weg“ im barrierefreien Naturerlebnisraum „Wilder Kermeter “ im Nationalpark Eifel. Der oberhalb der Wildnis angelegte Pfad soll z.B. Dated 2015, credited to ACBahn. The choice between imitating the body and doing the job runs through the whole history of replacement limbs.
  41. - How the Pacemaker Developed from an Everyday Radio. Smithsonian Channel traces How the Pacemaker Developed from an Everyday Radio, published in 2015. Held for devices that restore or substitute function.
  42. - Revolutionizing Prosthetics: Rising to the Challenge Miami at a Glance. Johns Hopkins University covers Revolutionizing Prosthetics: Rising to the Challenge Miami at a Glance, published in 2015. Filed as the workshop behind the fitted limb.
  43. - Friesach Fuerstenhofplatz 3 Kastenspeicher Zugang mit eisernen Hellebardentraegern 21122016 581. Wheelchair ramp to the granary on Fuerstenhofplatz #3, municipality Friesach, district Sankt Veit an der Glan, Carinthia, Austria, EU. Dated 2016, credited to Johann Jaritz. The wheelchair's history is one of gradually shifting control from an attendant pushing to the user's own hands.
  44. - Creating Artificial Eyes and Facial Prosthetics: The Art Behind the Trade. Boston University presents Creating Artificial Eyes and Facial Prosthetics: The Art Behind the Trade, published in 2017. The value here is the fitted limb, the brace and the pump.
  45. - The Development of the Modern Cochlear Implant.... Fralin Biomedical Research Institute presents The Development of the Modern Cochlear Implant, published in 2018. Filed as the fitted limb, the brace and the pump.
  46. - BYU wheelchair. Wheelchair made by the BYU Engineering Capstone Program for the Open Wheelchair Foundation. Dated 2018, credited to Ben P L. Assistive devices were often made to be hidden, which shaped them as much as function did.
  47. - Amputations & Prosthetics | Ideal Stump | Myodesis & Myoplasty. Orthopaedic Academy. Orthopaedic Academy examines Amputations & Prosthetics, published in 2018. The value here is engineering fitted to a particular body.
  48. - Multisensory Museum: learning from the wheelchair perspective. vanabbemuseum presents Multisensory Museum: learning from the wheelchair perspective, published in 2018. The value here is the workshop behind the fitted limb.
  49. - Introduction to Your Prosthesis - Functional Limb Service Tutorial Video Series. University of California Television presents Introduction to Your Prosthesis - Functional Limb Service Tutorial Video Series, published in 2018. It belongs here as the fitted limb, the brace and the pump.
  50. - Prosthetics and Personhood Object Histories at the Intersection of Medicine and Disability with sli. Hannah Unit in History of Medicine at McMaster documents Prosthetics and Personhood Object Histories at the Intersection of Medicine and Disability with sli, published in 2019. This is machines that stand in for the body.
  51. - From Phantom Limb to Bionic Arm | CNRS in English. CNRS sets out From Phantom Limb to Bionic Arm, published in 2019. It belongs here as engineering fitted to a particular body.
  52. - Micra a kézben. A készülék alig nagyobb mint egy vitamin kapszula. Dated 2019, credited to Laszloneder. Fit is the hard problem in prosthetics, and the socket has always mattered more than the mechanism.
  53. - Hintta Parish Centre Oulu 20190428 03. An object held in the prosthetics material of the free record, catalogued on Wikimedia Commons. Dated 2019, credited to Estormiz. Materials drove change, with wood and leather giving way to aluminium, plastics and composites.
  54. - Sanxay (Vienne) - Flickr - sybarite48. Sanxay (Vienne). Site antique d'Herbord. Dated 2019, credited to Daniel Jolivet. Spectacles are the most widely adopted prosthesis ever made, and the frame's history is largely the problem of keeping lenses on a face.
  55. - Using 3D printers to help build prosthetic sockets. Sunnybrook Hospital traces Using 3D printers to help build prosthetic sockets, published in 2019. Held for the workshop behind the fitted limb.
  56. - Perry Health Pulse: Ep. 10 The History of the Iron Lung. Perry Memorial Hospital covers Perry Health Pulse: Ep. 10 The History of the Iron Lung, published in 2019. It belongs here as the workshop behind the fitted limb.
  57. - The Prosthetic Imagination: An Interview with Peter Boxall. Cambridge University Press examines The Prosthetic Imagination: An Interview with Peter Boxall, published in 2020. Filed as engineering fitted to a particular body.
  58. - Travel of krishnakumar. An object held in the prosthetics material of the free record, catalogued on Wikimedia Commons. Dated 2020, credited to The light in you. Cost decides which designs are actually used, so the cheapest workable device usually wins.
  59. - Giving Feeling and Movement Back to Amputees | The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth sets out Giving Feeling and Movement Back to Amputees, published in 2020. Carried for assistive technology and its makers.
  60. - 19th Century Prosthetic Limbs Through a Material Culture Lens. National Museum of Civil War Medicine presents 19th Century Prosthetic Limbs Through a Material Culture Lens, published in 2021. The value here is devices that restore or substitute function.
  61. - Science Museum offers vision of a bionic future sooner than we think. AP Archive covers Science Museum offers vision of a bionic future sooner than we think, published in 2021. Carried for the workshop behind the fitted limb.
  62. - 2vom. An object held in the prosthetics material of the free record, catalogued on Wikimedia Commons. Dated 2021, credited to ویلچر جی تی اس. Manufacture moved from individual craftsmen to workshops and then to factories.
  63. - Restoration of Civil War Era Prosthetic Limbs. National Museum of Civil War Medicine presents Restoration of Civil War Era Prosthetic Limbs, published in 2021. The record it provides is the fitted limb, the brace and the pump.
  64. - San Diego start-up company makes artificial limbs with a 3D printer. KPBS News examines San Diego start-up company makes artificial limbs with a 3D printer, published in 2022. It belongs here as replacement and repair as engineering.
  65. - History and Future of the Artificial Heart. The Texas Heart Institute sets out History and Future of the Artificial Heart, published in 2022. Included as assistive technology and its makers.
  66. - Finding the perfect prosthetic fit - Sanders UW Research Labs. UW surveys Finding the perfect prosthetic fit - Sanders UW Research Labs, published in 2022. The value here is technology worn rather than administered.
  67. - Cochlear Implants Q&A - Everything You Need To Know. Mayo Clinic covers Cochlear Implants Q&A - Everything You Need To Know, published in 2023. This is the workshop behind the fitted limb.
  68. - Paralyzed by Polio at 17 | My Time Inside an Iron Lung. Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia presents Paralyzed by Polio at 17, published in 2023. It sits in the archive as the fitted limb, the brace and the pump.
  69. - Overcoming a Lonely Childhood | My Time Inside an Iron Lung. Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia surveys Overcoming a Lonely Childhood, published in 2023. What it offers is technology worn rather than administered.
  70. - BCI sensor mounting types, invasive (IM), semi-invasive (ECoG), and non-invasive (MEG, EEG. According to the degree of invasiveness, neural interfaces are divided into three categories: invasive, non-invasive, and semi-invasive. Invasive neural interfaces require direct implantation of intracortical microelectrodes (IM) into the human brain, providing the highest efficacy but posing a greater risk. Dated 2023, credited to Peksa Janis and Dmytro Mamchur. Users modified their own devices constantly, and the adaptations are often the real design record.
  71. - Experts in Sport: E48 - National Rehabilitation Centre: Exoskeletons and rehabilitation technology. Loughborough University documents Experts in Sport: E48 - National Rehabilitation Centre: Exoskeletons and rehabilitation technology, published in 2023. Held for machines that stand in for the body.
  72. - Great War Prostheses in American Literature and Culture - Aaron Shaheen. National WWI Museum and Memorial surveys Great War Prostheses in American Literature and Culture - Aaron Shaheen, published in 2023. Its place in the archive is technology worn rather than administered.
  73. - What is the iron lung and how does it work? | BBC News. BBC News sets out What is the iron lung and how does it work?, published in 2024. It belongs here as devices that restore or substitute function.
  74. - Passenger with Disabilities (PwD) on a electrical wheelchair Electrical. air passenger with disabilities traveling with an electrical wheelchair. Dated 2024, credited to Aeriport. Assistive technology sits between medicine and everyday equipment, which is why so little of it was collected.
  75. - Applicazione A.A.. Applicazione di un apparecchio acustico con auricolare su misura. Dated 2024, credited to DB.Aevo. Prosthetics are designed at the meeting point of engineering and daily life, and the successful ones are the ones people actually wore.
  76. - October 2024 - Paul Trotman - Dr Willem Kolff and the first artificial kidney. OMSAA presents October 2024 - Paul Trotman - Dr Willem Kolff and the first artificial kidney, published in 2024. What it offers is the fitted limb, the brace and the pump.
  77. - Guest Artist Milena Buckel creates Prosthetic Eyes!. Corning Museum of Glass presents Guest Artist Milena Buckel creates Prosthetic Eyes!, published in 2024. This is assistive technology and its makers.
  78. - Surviving Polio | The History of the Iron Lung | Here’s the Thing. Science Museum traces Surviving Polio, published in 2026. This is devices that restore or substitute function.
  79. - Iron Lung: How This Machine Kept Polio Patients Alive ?. American Medical Archive surveys Iron Lung: How This Machine Kept Polio Patients Alive ?, published in 2026. It belongs here as technology worn rather than administered.
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