Today I...

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm such a dork, but I figure you guys would like to hear about this too!
At school today we had a special guest in our anatomy and physiology class who works at Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center. 
YES.
He came in and brought with him all his visuals and as a sat down scanning the tables of limbs (they looked so real-it looked like a legit butcher's SHOP!) but I didn't see what I was looking for, still I was so excited to learn about new innovative techniques that are used for people who have lost limbs. We learned about all the orgins and muscles and nerves involved with simple finger moments or plantar flexing one's foot.

Did you know if you have a below the elbow amputation they can make you hand with fingers that with open and close electrically, simply from getting impluses from your nerves because they are still there? Yes, it was very cool indeed.

AND THEN. ON THE TABLE. I SAW IT.
A HOOK.
SO, NATURALLY I WAS VERY DISTRACTED THROUGHOUT THE PRESENTION. 

SOME INTERSTING THING ABOUT HOOKS. EVEN WITH ALL THE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY TODAY MANY PEOPLE REALLY DO PREFER HOOKS FOR THEIR DAY TO DAY NEEDS BECAUSE THEY ARE SIMPLE AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE PICKING UP. IN FACT, THE PROSTESIS(?) SAID THAT MANY PEOPLE GET VERY SKILLED WITH HOOKS AND HAVE CONTESTS WHERE THE PICK UP A SINGLE ASH FROM AN ASH TRAY.

So, I wondered what Gen would think of that?




 

Comments

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

AHH! This is wonderful! Wow it must have been such a cool thing to learn about, the advances they are making in neuroscience really are impressive. But of course I think the hook is by far the coolest thing. This is an excellent story! It's not every day something this relevant to the books happens in real life :) Thanks for posting this.

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

I know, it really is! It's so innovative and really important for all the people that it serves!
I was so distracted the entire time by the hook on the table and I just wanted to go up there and check out myself, but the guy tried it on and showed us how it worked and everything, which was super cool!!

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

I've got a thing to add - Oscar Pistorius, this fellow: http://www.colorado.edu/news/r/14de1a1049d4df00e6fd0614606e42d5/Oscar%20Pistorius.jpg who clearly has protheses for his legs, is an Olympic sprinter. For a while, he was not allowed to compete with people who had legs, because his prostheses gave him an unfair ADVANTAGE over the other athletes. Do to their construction, they actually conserve more energy when running than actual legs do - they don't make you run any faster exactly, but you can sustain the pace for longer because you're less tired.

Science is cool. C:

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know! And they have a built in hydrolics system and not to mention you don't have your usual muscle strains or muscle atrophy. Thanks for sharing that!!

OH, it so is =)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I couldn't help but think of Luke Skywalker's hand with the servos in his arm. It seems they weren't needed, but I suppose you have to show the audience something. :-)

[keestone.livejournal.com]

We are living in a Sci-Fi world! :D

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

AND YES, we SOOO ARE!!!

What's next I wonder?

[willow-41z.livejournal.com]

There was this cool bit in one of the later books about how he used some of the parts from his hand to break out of a shed he was locked into (he couldn't use the Force).

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I haven't read any of the books, but I like that. It's very Gen. :-)

BTW I find Gen's name confusing in that I write a lot of gen stories, so my Yuletide one was a gen Gen fic.

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

omg I didn't think of that until now!! =)

[keestone.livejournal.com]

That is fascinating.

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

Dude, get this. The first time I read The Economist (I'm an Econ student so I figured I'd have to start reading it) there was an article in it about mirrors and dealing with pain in phantom limbs.

It was before I was in sounis so I totally forgot about it until now.

Gen would pwn that contest.

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

OMG
OMG
I SAW THAT ON AN EPISODE OF HOUSE
I'M GOING TO HAVE TO FIND IT FOR YOU...
HOUSE LIKE HELPS THIS WAR VET WHO LOST A HAND AND STILL FEELS THE PAIN OF HIS HAND BEING CLENCHING SO HE USES THIS MIRROR TO MAKE HIS EXSISTING HAND FLEX AND THEN IT RELIEVES THE PAIN IN HIS PHANTOM HAND.

Oh, he soo would. =)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'd read about it before (but not thought of it in relation to Gen) and was delighted to see it used in House.

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

House is on my list of things to watch when I have time.

ah time.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Very neat stuff. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[elle-winters.livejournal.com]

no prob =)
I only wish you guys could be there to freak out with me, like I looked around the class room and realized I couldn't point it out to anyone who would actually GET IT <>

[magicsandwiches.livejournal.com]

Fascinating! Thanks.