prosthetic limbs?

[scm]

---

Members do not see this ad.

hey, what type of MDs are usually involved with this patient population and/or design of the limbs? I think I might be really interested in this, but I'm unsure in what capacity it's possible to do it in PM&R. other specialties? granted i know there are specific people/training in regard to actually manufacturing the prosthetics(i forget what those folks are called), but I realize they don't do it on their own and need some MDs as well... any insight that anyone could provide would be invaluable...
take care
scm

 

[prominence]

biomedical engineers design limbs, not MDs.

 

[scm]

yeah i know. presumably they dont work with patients on their own do they? aren't there MDs of some variety involved? that was my question, and if so, in what capacity.

 

[prominence]

i know biomedical engineers. and im telling you that MDs aren't involved in prosthetic limb design. biomedical engineers are trained to design them without the input of MDs. take it for what its worth.

 

[scm]

yes yes, i know. that wasnt my only question above (i.e. see "and/or"), and that wasn't what i was asking the second time. i was not only asking about design per se. do these people work with the patients alone? or are MDs involved with the patients as well? i.e. is there some "rehab" involved in helping them learn to use the limb? does a patient who needs a limb just go straight to these people-I figured they would see some type of MD first no? I guess I had assumed it would be a team approach, like so much in PM&R...

also when I mentioned "design' I above, I kinda meant as applicable to a specific patient-I didn;t mean to ask/imply that MDs were involved in the design of artificial limbs as a field, but more specifically if they had some input regarding the design of a limb for a patient (if that was the case)... much thanks

 

[MacGyver]

the poster above is right...

biomedical engineers design the limbs.

However, there might be some MDs involved. For example, they might make recommendations on how a limb needs to feel or work in a particular way. But generally speaking, MDs arent qualified to actually design the limbs.

What they do is help fit the limbs to patients and assist them in learning how to use it.

 

[Stinky T]

Physiatrists write the presription for the prosthesis. We rely on the input of PTs and the prosthetist, but ultimately the decision and prescription is written by a physician. Depending on the company, I think that many do get the input of a physician at some point in time. There are many medical considerations (at least there should be) that go into fitting the patient with the proper prosthesis. Physicians are the ones who are writing the prescription, so for them to not get any feedback at all probably isn't a great idea. If you are interested in this area of PM&R, I think you will find that there are ample opportunities to participate in the research and design of prostheses. I know of a few residents who were former engineers and are very interested in designing prostheses in the future.

 

[scm]

ah much thanks everyone

 

[theD.O.C.]

As a Biomedical Engineer who has worked with prosthetics and a future rehab doc (starting in July yay!) I thought I'd throw in my .02 cents. It's true that MD's have very little to do with the R&D of prosthetics/orthotics, the biomechanics, material properties, fdbk cntrls etc. are done by teams of engineers.

The role of the physician (in my observation usu. an orthopod interested in research) is in the clinical testing of the device in animal and human models. Some of the MD's actually do some of the mathematical modelling and stress analysis themselves (or at least take credit for it😀 )


That being said about the status quo, I believe that as the field matures and become more refined then MD's regardless of specialty who understand both the clinical relevance as well as the technology will become more involved in the R&D aspects. The prosthetics field is quite broad, look around and find out which part/role in the development process interests you and focus in on that.

Good Luck and Welcome!