Prosthetic Technology Offers Hope for Iraq Amputees (3/19/04)

Prosthetic Technology Offers Hope for Iraq Amputees
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=517993

FRIDAY, March 19 (HealthDayNews) -- The warfare in Iraq, a year old Friday, has left hundreds of American soldiers dead and thousands injured, many without arms or legs.

High-tech prosthetic devices are offering hope to many of the most badly injured, although doctors acknowledge that artificial limb technology still has plenty of room for improvement.

Soldiers, for example, can be given a prosthetic leg, "which is much more efficient than hopping around on one foot with crutches," says Dr. Edwin Richter, associate clinical director at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine in New York City. But, he adds, even a prosthesis with a microprocessor built in "is not a good substitute for a normal healthy knee."

Amputation has long been a grim occupational hazard for soldiers.

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