The Prosthetic Experience
Welcome to The Prosthetic Experience. For many, understanding what it means to have to use a prosthetic rather than a natural limb is very hard to comprehend. We understand what a prosthetic is at a basic level, but we do not understand how its limits impact day to day activities and the impact it has on a person physically, mentally, and emotionally. The excitement today is how technology is changing so rapidly and how we are getting closer to bionics that grant amputees human-surpassing abilities. In The Prosthetic Experience, you will hear stories from prosthetic users and amputees, surgeons using novel techniques for amputees, prosthetists, and even the prosthetic technicians who build the prosthetics. From the various perspectives, you will experience the changing field and how an inspiring, holistic view of prosthetics and bionics is helping overcome the immense obstacles that life brings.
The Prosthetic Experience
Special Episode: Redefining the Boundaries of the Human Body
This NPR award-winning episode dives into the boundaries of the human body and explores how, with exciting scientific developments, those boundaries may be on the brink of disappearing.
I share the stories of two amputees who have had to overcome those limits but struggle with the conflicted reality of their experience, particularly given the 200-year-old approach to amputation and the shortcomings of current prosthetic technology. I then highlight the bionic revolution that is happening now and discuss the exciting Ewing technology that allows an amputee to have neurological control of a new functional limb.
What does this technology make possible? And what does it mean if we can create a bionic man who can surpass all physical hurdles? This podcast examines the experience of the human body and what it will mean in the future.