4 ms·

It's really awesome that we are at a technological place in time where "pretty much anyone" can build prosthetic limbs out of commonplace items such as Lego. B

by dusted 5y ago

It's really awesome that we are at a technological place in time where "pretty much anyone" can build prosthetic limbs out of commonplace items such as Lego. But that it's actually done and used tells a lot (of negatives) about healthcare tech.

ravenstine 5y ago
> But that it's actually done and used tells a lot (of negatives) about healthcare tech. Do you mean that in the sense that healthcare tech has been slow to move in terms of making advanced bionics available to the public that needs them? My general impression would make me agree, although bionic prosthetics have gotten way better in recent years. Simultaneously, it all seems like tech that could have been available decades prior.
- lostapathy 5y ago
  It seems incredibly wrong that access to prosthetics is bifurcated into 2 tiers: 1) Incredibly expensive, but if you have insurance that pays for it, amazing. 2) DIY hobby projects that are "good enough" to still have incredibly profound impacts on peoples' lives. They aren't particularly costly, but only available if you're lucky enough to know someone with those skills. I know it's not a trivial problem, but it seems like we should be able to mass-produce the "good enough" version and make them widely available at an accessible cost.
  - VRay 5y ago
    If I’m in the same house or at least the same city, I can keep some pretty impressive tech working Having a working prototype with a technician on hand means you’re only about 10% of the way to having a mass-producible product though
Cthulhu_ 5y ago
I'm inclined to agree; it seems like there are a LOT of people who make bionic limbs as 'side projects', but it seems they're not commercially available? You'd think someone would be mass producing them by now. Of course, a lot of articles like these are by US people, where finding the money for a commercial prosthetic is much more difficult. Can you get anything from health insurance if you don't have a job (because you're missing a limb)?
- HideousKojima 5y ago
  If you don't have a job then you'd be covered by Medicaid, and Medicaid appears to provide coverage for prosthetics in most cases: https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/prosthetic-and-orthotic-devices/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/prosthetic-and-...
vkou 5y ago
No, we are in a place where pretty much anyone can earn Internet Points by posting about this sort of stuff on Instagram, or wherever. The reality is that lots of people find prosthetics, both commercial, and DIY... deeply unsatisfying [1]. But people who don't use them think some of them look cool, so at least that's something. [1] https://www.inputmag.com/culture/cyborg-chic-bionic-prosthetic-arm-sucks https://www.inputmag.com/culture/cyborg-chic-bionic-prosthet...

by dusted 5y ago

ravenstine 5y ago

> But that it's actually done and used tells a lot (of negatives) about healthcare tech. Do you mean that in the sense that healthcare tech has been slow to move in terms of making advanced bionics available to the public that needs them? My general impression would make me agree, although bionic prosthetics have gotten way better in recent years. Simultaneously, it all seems like tech that could have been available decades prior.

lostapathy 5y ago
It seems incredibly wrong that access to prosthetics is bifurcated into 2 tiers: 1) Incredibly expensive, but if you have insurance that pays for it, amazing. 2) DIY hobby projects that are "good enough" to still have incredibly profound impacts on peoples' lives. They aren't particularly costly, but only available if you're lucky enough to know someone with those skills. I know it's not a trivial problem, but it seems like we should be able to mass-produce the "good enough" version and make them widely available at an accessible cost.
- VRay 5y ago
  If I’m in the same house or at least the same city, I can keep some pretty impressive tech working Having a working prototype with a technician on hand means you’re only about 10% of the way to having a mass-producible product though

Cthulhu_ 5y ago

I'm inclined to agree; it seems like there are a LOT of people who make bionic limbs as 'side projects', but it seems they're not commercially available? You'd think someone would be mass producing them by now. Of course, a lot of articles like these are by US people, where finding the money for a commercial prosthetic is much more difficult. Can you get anything from health insurance if you don't have a job (because you're missing a limb)?

HideousKojima 5y ago
If you don't have a job then you'd be covered by Medicaid, and Medicaid appears to provide coverage for prosthetics in most cases: https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/prosthetic-and-orthotic-devices/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/prosthetic-and-...

vkou 5y ago

No, we are in a place where pretty much anyone can earn Internet Points by posting about this sort of stuff on Instagram, or wherever. The reality is that lots of people find prosthetics, both commercial, and DIY... deeply unsatisfying [1]. But people who don't use them think some of them look cool, so at least that's something. [1] https://www.inputmag.com/culture/cyborg-chic-bionic-prosthetic-arm-sucks https://www.inputmag.com/culture/cyborg-chic-bionic-prosthet...