Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis is an artificial extension that replaces a missing part of the body. Contrast with orthosis that supplements the body. Prostheses are typically used to replace parts lost by injury (traumatic) or missing from birth (congenital) or to supplement defective body parts. Prosthetic is the adjective form of the word while prosthesis is the singular noun and prostheses the plural noun. The same can be said for orthotic, orthosis and orthoses. An unusual example is specialized prostheses that can allow transsexual men to change their outward physical sex or achieve secondary sex characteristics for transsexual women.
Some types of prosthetics include:
- artificial limbs
- corrective lenses
- cochlear implants
- bio-implants
- replacement joints (eg hips)
- ocular prosthetics
- facial prosthetics
- somato prosthetics
- surgical prosthetics
- maxillo-facial prosthetics
External links
- Prosthetics History
- Knee Replacement Surgery
- NEVER BEEN DONE Documentary about an athlete with a prosthetic leg.
See also
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