I don’t know what kind of kid you were, but if you were anything like me, the potential of the future was exciting. Flying cars, robots, teleportation, space flight and all sorts of amazing things seemed just over the horizon and I couldn’t wait to see them. Now, obviously I got older and as I did I began to realise the realities of life and what new technology was actually like and just how it normally advanced. I accepted that it was unlikely I’d fly in a flying car or teleport to Spain on my holidays. However, just because reality isn’t as fast as our imaginations doesn’t mean it won’t get there in the end. How many of you ever thought how fun it would be to have a robotic hand?
Well we’ve already done that. Much earlier in the year the first prosthetic and fully robotic hand was grafted onto a human skeleton and much more recently we achieved something more profound, something fantastically science fiction in its scope.
But I digress. The patient in question suffered from chronic gout in his hand. Gout is the most common form of arthritis and causes inflammation of the joints. Our patient had lost almost all mobility in his right hand and lived in constant pain thanks to his condition. Gout can be managed but not totally cured and once it’s as advanced as it was in this case it becomes hard to tackle, the patient would never get use of his hand back.
Enter the hand transplant. In a recent surgery, our gout suffering patient had his hand removed and replaced by a donor hand (removed at the wrist). All blood vessels and nerve endings were properly brought together and the operation was a complete success.
Its early days still but the patient has already started to wiggle his new fingers and though doctors are unsure how much mobility he’ll be able to attain, they’re optimistic for the future!
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