The Evil Truth of Prosthetics
Currently, the average life of a prosthetic limb is 3 years and the average cost of a prosthetic is $20,000 (cost can vary from 5k to 100k). This is unreasonable. Let me explain.
For a vulnerable patient looking to get their quality of life back after an accident, to go through: surgery, prosthetic fitting, then rehabilitation, to then have to do it all over again in 3 years… Well to me, this is absurd.
- Absurd that you need a replacement so frequently, while the average lifespan of other surgical implants can last 20+ years.
- Absurd that the primary reason for the replacement is broken parts due to equipment’ wear and tear
- Absurd that a custom prosthetic is unable to withstand 1 billion repetitive cycles.
I believe that many individuals who want to get there quality of life back, are made to believe that the quality of life they would get, would last forever. But the data doesn’t back it up.
Patients due improve quality of life when they have a working prosthetic, but everything is seen at what cost. Cost of $, cost of mental energy, cost of hope. And well, the alternative is not bright either; to life without a limb for the rest of your life.
I do not condone robotics and medical companies for creating short lasting prosthetics. I congratulate them for creating prosthetics that are able to give back to individuals the able to regain their senses back to a close version of what patients had before.
My key point is, more research, funding, and time is needed for prosthetics to be an integral part of our health care treatment plan for the common citizen.
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PS: If someone can find a material that is corrosion resistant and can handle extreme shearing forces. Inform prosthetics sciences; so they can develop better prosthetics.
