Hot summer - beer time [ADL, Becker hands]

Posted on July 18, 2010

Summer time and how to go about beers.

Holding drinks, glasses, cups is an issue for me. Particularly when there is finger food.

The V2P works fine, but when you are at a party, I strongly suggest the Becker hand (out of a collection of Otto Bock hand, Otto Bock hook, Hosmer hooks or V2P). It works reliably (and you don’t want to drop that beer, trust me), elegantly and affordably.

Cheers :)

Product reference: Becker Imperial hand.

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Artistic visions for prosthetic design XV - Red Arm II - High Tech

Posted on April 26, 2010

My previous practical experiments with the Red Hand concept have yielded some results that emerged as stable throughout:

• People positively loved red and reddish appearances of my arm and hand to death. Some screamed with joy, some immediately wanted to touch it or did touch it, and when I was not wearing it, they demanded that I wear it. This response was stable over more than about 10 months and affected children and adults alike. This reaction confirms published results of Cloerkes and a color theory by Rudolf Steiner.
• The same did never even once happen with a skin colored socket. With a skin colored hand, children and some adults reacted with visible distress. One guy sweated, one kid screamed, and other reactions were not as pronounced but negative as well. Yet I was also complimented in a distanced manner as to how neat the Regal prosthesis hand looked. This reaction confirms published results by Cloerkes.
• A clean or very clean appearance seemed to be paramount. Self-made appearances, worn down appearances and so on were not met with a lot of enthusiasm (even though I really like them). Surely people were intrigued by realistic or otherwise artsy appearances but it had to be a clean and well made prosthesis in order to yield positive acceptance. So here we have a difference between my and other people’s preference. The brushed down look was almost stressful to some. I found it extremely cool but it was stressful to some. And no one volunteered compliments for that type of design.
• I do not want a pre-defined look. So I don’t want my arm to resemble hardwood, a leopard print or any other clear well-known and established point of reference. Instead I want this to be free of such anchors but - similar to Jacques Monestier’s approach - some piece of loving art that invites to be examined rather than a piece of healthcare that must be stared at.

So for this round of new sockets (…my arm shrank…), I discussed material options in depth with my prosthetic technician. He then tried to work with my specifications and here is what came out of it.

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Approximating the Carroll Quantitative Test for Upper Extremity Function comparing hooks [V2P, Dorrance, Otto Bock] and hands [Otto Bock, Becker Lock Grip]

Posted on February 8, 2010

I am not saying that the Carroll quantitative test for upper extremity function is necessarily the test most related to my own Activities of Daily Living (ADL). It is not.

But manufacturers are going above and beyond their call of duty to build “bionic” prostheses that seem to excite their engineers, the media and that by and large miss the point of functional prosthetic support while public money for research is wasted away on similarly useful gadgetry. Can you believe it? With a BeBionic hand you can even grab an apple? How amazing! With the iLimb, you can hold a water bottle! Wild! And the Otto Bock Michelangelo hand can also grab an apple. Oh, well.

So again amputees are mostly on their own as far as the real works are concerned.

On my way trying to get an understanding of the interplay between grip angles and usefulness I am trying to work towards better defining a modern test for relevant dexterity. And for that, it helps to play with a previously established test and then discuss maybe what it does well, what it does not show, and what it can be used for.

Furthermore, current advertising for “bionic” prostheses [Michelangelo, BeBionic, iLimb] usually show activities that any prosthesis can achieve and as such do not prove a particular point.

After reading through Carroll’s paper, I decided to implement the following tasks:

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Artistic visions for prosthetic design XIII - Becker Lock Grip hand aesthetics [photo series]

Posted on February 5, 2010

The Becker Lock Grip hand looks good. It is not the most anatomically detailed version of a silicon painted glove hand representation that requires to stay out of trobule - instead, this is industrial design meant to be and designed to be used at all times.

Sewing - thread manipulation

Posted on December 27, 2009

Grabbing thread. Comparing Otto Bock MovoHook 2Grip (cost: around 1200 USD) and Becker Lock Grip hand (cost: around 600 USD). Maybe the very functional design of hooks implies high functionality - but whether there really is functionality should be tested carefully.

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Industrial design issues - iron AND hook or V2P

Posted on December 8, 2009

The experience of ironing with a hook. It is also an industrial design issue as it appears. And while I can not offer perfect solutions, I sure can help detailing the process of handling my iron using my hook and - alternatively - using a special terminal device, the V2P prehensor.

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Becker Lock Grip hand - gloves

Posted on December 3, 2009

Prosthetic hands are usually equipped with expensive gloves. They look cheap, they feel cheap, they probably are made cheaply - but they cost a fortune. And if they don’t look cool, it’s not cool. Still:

• For cosmetic gloves, I prefer Regal Prosthesis gloves. I feel as if they outperform Otto Bock’s products any time. But then, cosmetic gloves only are so and so cool - not completely.

The Becker Lock Grip size 8 is so standard that several other options are available:

• For cool looking gloves, self made gloves are the thing to make and the thing to wear. If you are creative, why not use a skin photo of your own complexion or actually your other hand and have that printed on a shirt? Then use that fabric to make a glove. That type of fabric printing, these days, is dirt cheap.
• For technical gloves, I tried the Atlas 370 nitrile gloves and I like them a lot. For my size 8 hand, I use gloves sized S (small).

Comprehensive inventory of ADL - Activities of Daily Living - using Becker Lock Grip hand and Otto Bock MovoHook 2Grip as right below elbow amputee

Posted on November 13, 2009

ADL (activities of daily living) are a roundabout way measure by which rehabilitation outcomes are measured. They contain household activities or housework, everyday activities, work and play, eating and laundry, cleaning and fixing up stuff. And, what is good enough for rehab outcomes sure is good enough for me. So I figured why put up with blurred concepts when we can be far more concise?

[this is comprehensive, it really is - this time there are lots - and I mean *lots* - of images - puhleeze, wait until they are loaded, get a drink, go to the bathroom, whatever, *then* read]

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