History of Upper Body Prosthesis

First Prosthetic Limb

Jan 1, 1000

A prosthetic toe was found on the mumified remains of an Egyptian woman.

Knights used prosthetic arms.

Jan 7, 1200

Knights would have an arm crafted by the same metal worker that made the shields. The purpose of the arm would be to hide the fact that the knight was missing an arm.

Pirates made hooks out of what they could find on their ships.

Jan 7, 1300

Pirates had prosthetic arms in the shape of a hook. These hooks were relatively easy to make and could be made out of materials that were already on the ship. The cooks were in charge of performing the amputations. They didn't have a very good success rate.

Ambroise Pare invented a hinged mechanical hand.

Jan 7, 1500

Pieter Verduyn developed a lower leg prosthesis with leather cuffs to attach to the limb.

Jan 7, 1690

Prostheic arm developed that could be controlled by the opposite shoulder with connecting straps.

Jan 7, 1812

Anesthsia became more available, leading to better surgery.

Jan 7, 1840

This allowed surgeons to do a better job during the surgery and new cleanliness rules improved the patient's changes of survival.

The Artificial Limb Program was begun to advance scientific progress in artificial limb development.

Jan 7, 1945