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Asked by Cian ó maonaigh to Caoimhe, Colin, David, Katie, Lisa on 14 Nov 2014.
Question: do engineers make replacement legs and what are they made of
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David Taylor answered on 14 Nov 2014:
Yes, I’ve worked on replacement body parts. There are two types: the external ones like whole legs and arms, which can be made from almost anything, but light materials such as aluminium or carbon fibre are good. And then there are in the internal parts – implants like artificial hips and knees. They have to be made from special materials so that they don’t react badly with your body. For example titanium or cobalt/chromium metals.
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Lisa Phelan answered on 14 Nov 2014:
yes.they are made of a very had plastic with metal joints and bones. there are many different kinds depending on the persons height, weight and the length of prosthesis needed
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Katie Mahon answered on 15 Nov 2014:
Yes, I think biomedical engineers would be more involved in things like that. It’s a really exciting part of science & engineering…. it really makes a difference to people’s lives
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Colin Keogh answered on 18 Nov 2014:
Generally they are made from metals for strength. I am investigating using plastics to make much cheaper replacement arms, hands and legs using 3d printing. It is also possible to maker bones out of plastic (like jaws or fingers), which have materials in them which encourage bones growth. The idea being i make a new jaw bone with these materials. Your own bone grows over the plastic, which them dissolves into your body safely, giving you a new jaw. Its a really cool idea.
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