“I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a videogame for me. It was another world completely. But, to be honest, I basically did it so that I could have the ears. I thought they would really work with my bare head."--- Kate Blanchett (Academy Award-winning Australian actress). Recognising the lagging of care for amputees in America, the Surgeon General of the Army invited the US prosthetists to Washington, DC, to discuss prosthetic technology and its development in this county. From this meeting arose of the present day American Orthotics and Prosthetics Association. This development, as one historian writes, "contributed more to the development of the science of prosthetics than any other occurrence in its history". Through this forum prosthetists could develop ethical standards, scientific programmes, and educational programmes, and build better relationships with other health professionals. In 1918, Dr Martin described the Belgian prosthesis, which emphasised the anatomy and physiology of the leg. This prosthesis was an improvement on the standard ‘American leg'. It could reproduce the natural static and aesthetic appearance of the lower limb and was made from measurements and a modified cast of sound and residual limb. Because of the relatively low amount of amputees in World War I and the economic depression, prosthetics advanced very little by the beginning of World War II. Many of the European advances had not yet reached America. As World War II waged on, the American amputee casualty list was much greater. These veterans found the current technology (which had not changed all that much since the 1800s) inadequate. In response, Normal Kirk, Surgeon General of the Army, requested that the National Academy of Sciences investigate the prosthetic state of the art. Originally it was thought only a few designs and studies were necessary. But it soon became apparent, when the Surgeon General brought a team of engineers and surgeons to Europe in 1946, that the US lagged far behind. At this time the orthotists joined the American Limb Manufacturers Association making it the Orthopaedic Appliances and Limb Manufacturers Association. In 1950 the name was again changed to the American Orthotics and Prosthetics Association, or AOPA. Between 1945 and 1976, universities, the Veterans Administration, private industry, and other military research units were subcontracted to conduct various prosthetic research projects. Although the focus of the Artificial Limb Programme was prosthetics, it was anticipated that these efforts would also benefit orthotics. Dear Egyptian Mail readers, Your comments and/or contributions are welcome. We promise to publish whatever is deemed publishable at the end of each series of articles. [email protected]
