A wooden prosthetic toe from the mummy of an Ancient Egyptian noblewoman. It is speculated that its main purpose was cosmetic, to allow the woman to wear the traditional Egyptian sandals.
Egypt, 15th century BCE
Roman lower-limb prosthesis made of bronze and iron with a wooden core.
Rome, c.a. 300 BCE
His right hand was shot away during battle, and his arm was fixed with an prosthetic iron hand that allowed him to continue fighting, implying that the hand was somewhat functinal.
Gotz von Berlichinger, 1480-1562
A famous surgeon who is widely considered the father of modern amputation surgery and prosthetic design. He made countless breakthroughs in both the safety of amputations and the functionality of newly created prosthetics. He designed several artificial limbs and an artificial eye.
Ambroise Paré, 1510-1590
An above knee prosthesis designed by Ambroise Paré. It featured a kneeling peg and prosthetic foot. It also had fixed equinus position, a locking knee, and a suspension harness, features which are still used in most modern prostheses today.
Above-knee prosthesis design, 16th century
Designed by James Potts of London, this lower-limb prosthetic consisted of a wooden shank and socket, steel knee joint, and an articulated foot controlled by catgut tendons from the knee to the ankle.
The Anglesey Leg, 1800
Designed by James Hanger, a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War and the first amputee of the war. He created this prosthetic out of barrel staves and metal, with hinged joints at the knee and ankle.
The Hanger Limb, 1861
He invented an advanced prosthesis with a suction socket, polycentric knee, and multi-articulated foot.
Dubois Parmelee, 1863
People at the University of California, Berkeley developed and released an advanced suction sock for above-knee amputations. They began a nation-wide program to educate and determine the actual functionality of an above-knee suction sock prosthetic and were met with much success.
Suction Socket Prosthetic, 1946
He developed a lower limb prosthesis that improved the amputee's gait and reduced friction. Instead of trying to create a prosthetic that replicated the motion of a natural limb, he focused on fixing the problems of existing prosthetics.
Ysidro Martinez, 1975
Introduced by Ottobock, the C-leg was the first prosthetic to feature a microprocessor controlled knee, which improves mobility and user control of the gait.
C-leg Prosthetic, 1999
The i-limb bionic hand designed by Touch Bionics was the first powered prosthetic hand to incorporate articulating fingers, allowing for a more natural design and control that closely resembled that of a natural hand.
iLIMB Hand, 2007
The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association was founded in 1939 during Warld War I in response to the abundance of veterans in need of prosthetics.
AOPA formed, 1939
Invented by David Gow, this prosthetic utilised an electronically powered shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fingers. It was controlled by micro-sensors that sent electronic pulses through the arm to control it.
First Bionic Arm, 1998
Induced pluripotent stem cells, are adult somatic cells that have been reprogrammed back to their embryonic state. They then go through the fusion and differentiation process again. This allows almost any body cell to be created from a stem cell.