This week had a few interesting experiences that I would
love to share! I had my first real experience with carbon fiber sockets and I
even got to work on an i-Limb device. This week began quite slow as the
fabrication shop was caught up with orders, this was until we had to fabricate
the final version of a patient’s socket (using the carbon fiber rather than
plastic). I was closely super-vised yet allowed to cut and remove the carbon
fiber after the resin hardened the microfilaments. I was definitely in for a
surprise as I cut into the carbon fiber layer. Fun fact, when you cut into
carbon fiber, small fibers fly into the air getting EVERYWHERE, they are also
extremely itchy making the rest of the day quite uncomfortable. We had to wear masks
and eye protection continuously using an industrial strength vacuum-cleaner
suctioning above the cuts. Despite the precautions I was still very itchy after
sawing it off of the plaster casting. I followed this specific patient through
the whole process of the initial casting, to the filling, to the modifications,
all the way to the final product which was amazing to see the difference from
our first meeting to him walking out of the store.
Later in the week, we finally had the parts come in to fix
that prosthetic arm I talked about several weeks ago. Thursday consisted of
working with David, one of the lab technicians on calibrating and putting the
device back together. You would think it’s quite simple enough to make a type
of hinge elbow but it is actually very complex. Here are several pictures of
that process, and an instruction manual picture of the joint itself.
After fixing
all of the missing parts we had to make adjustment after adjustment to allow
for both flexion of the arm as well as the locking of the elbow to keep the arm
in a certain position. Then comes setup of the myo-electrical system within the
hollowed out arm that extends in this particular device to the shoulder. I was
shocked at how much time goes into the setup of such a device!
Wow Sebastien that seems so cool! I can't wait to hear your presenation
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know just what a myo-electric arm looks like inside. Very cool process here. I have a kit for making the carbon fiber parts for bikes myself, but I've never tried. Maybe you can supervise now. This sounds like you're truly getting your hands dirty. I think that's perfect and definitely look forward to hearing your presentation as well!
ReplyDeleteIt varies quite a lot based upon where the amputation is, this specific prosthetic was different than any other previous one I had seen. Because this amputation was so high the wires had to be run through the hollow prosthetic and up to the shoulder. Instead of using the bicep and tricep muscles, this patient uses flexion of his back shoulder muscle and his back muscle to activate movements. The wiring is connected to the muscles in a similar fashion as an EKG.
DeleteThat's so cool that you got to work with carbon fiber sockets! It seems like a very cumbersome but awesome task.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting Sebastien!What exactly is a myo-electrical system?
ReplyDeleteThe "Myo-elelectric" system uses electrical signals generated from the muscles to move the hand. Essentially the signals are transfered from the muscles to the electrode, next to the microprocessor to be translated, then are finally used to move the prosthetic in whatever way the previous contraction would have moved the real hand.
DeleteVery interesting Sebastien!What exactly is a myo-electrical system?
ReplyDelete