{"id":81035,"date":"2017-10-14T13:55:56","date_gmt":"2017-10-14T11:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=81035"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:52","slug":"van-haak-tot-bionische-alleskunner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/10\/14\/van-haak-tot-bionische-alleskunner\/","title":{"rendered":"From hook to bionic jack-of-all-trades"},"content":{"rendered":"
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To each his own. This is as true for prostheses as it is for anything else.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSanne van der Most<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Some people want their prosthetic hands to look as natural as possible; others want hands that can do nearly everything; and yet others may wish to have bodies that are intact to the maximum extent possible. To each his own. This is as true for prostheses as it is for anything else. That said, the bionic prosthetic arm really is revolutionary. Arie\u00a0Rommers, who has used the arm, and EMC researcher\/lecturer Ruud Selles will tell students all about it at a lunchtime lecture given on 17 October.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll fingers can move, and on top of that, each finger has two bending points \u2013 two phalanges, if you will,\u201d says\u00a0Vera van\u00a0Heijningen,\u00a0an occupational therapist specialising in hand therapy and a colleague of Selles\u2019 at Erasmus MC.\u00a0\u201cWhich really is unique, because so far, all other myoelectric prosthetic arms\u00a0(conventional\u00a0myoelectric prostheses)\u00a0have only had one point at which they could move, without any phalanges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Better grip<\/h3>
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Vera van Heijningen shows the bionic hand<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSanne van der Most<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

As a result, the thumb and index finger, along with the middle finger, can bend towards each other so as to pick things up.\u00a0\u201cUsing the bionic hand, you can grip things more tightly and hold on to them without their slipping from your fingers,\u201d Van Heijningen explains.\u00a0\u201cElectrodes on the muscles in your arm will transmit signals that provide motor innervation to the bionic arm.\u201d<\/p>\n

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All fingers of the bionic hand can move separately and bend in two different places. <\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSanne van der Most<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

In future, the brain may be able to transmit such signals. \u201cResearch on this is currently being conducted in the United States,\u201d says Van Heijningen. \u201cI definitely expect something like that to become available to Dutch patients at some point. Which would be absolutely wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charging your arm<\/h3>

For what it\u2019s worth, Van Heijningen is not saying that conventional\u00a0prostheses and traditional hooks will no longer be used when this happens. \u201cIt depends on what you want your prosthesis to do for you,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

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The prosthetic hand is covered by a glove in the exact same colour as the patient\u2019s own skin.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSanne van der Most<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Basically, there are three types of prostheses: passive, body-powered and myoelectric prostheses.\u00a0Passive prostheses are hands or hooks that cannot be opened or closed. \u201cThey make your limbs longer, and as far as arms are concerned, they can look quite real,\u201d says Van Heijningen. \u201cSilicone hands, in particular, look so real it\u2019s hard to tell them from the real thing. They are covered by very tight skin-coloured gloves which make the hands look like they\u2019re real. We could also put something like that on bionic hands, but due to the moveability of such hands, softer silicone gloves would be required, which would break much sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Body-powered prostheses are moved using the power of your own muscles.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSanne van der Most<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Body-powered\u00a0prostheses can<\/em> be moved, using the power of your own muscles. As Van Heijningen explains, \u201cSuch prostheses are firmly attached to the body, generally by means of a corset of sorts, thus allowing you to get them to move by using the power of your muscles in your good arm, or in another body part on the other side of your body.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Silicone arms are much more expensive, but it is very hard to tell them from the real thing.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSanne van der Most<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Then there are myoelectric prostheses, such as the bionic arm. But there are also more conventional\u00a0myoelectric\u00a0prostheses, which can be charged by putting a plug into an electric wall socket. Van Heijningen explains how these work: \u201cElectrodes placed on the muscles of your arm or a different body part will transmit signals that will set the [bionic] arm in motion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Een lijst van afbeeldingen<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t
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