Advances in Prosthetic Technology: a Perspective on Ethical Considerations for Development and Clinical Translation

Overview

Journal Front Rehabil Sci

Specialty Rehabilitation Medicine

Date 2024 Jan 31

PMID 38293290

Authors

Hayden Gavette

Cody L McDonald

Kristin Kostick-Quenet

Ashley Mullen

Bijan Najafi

M G Finco

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Technological advancements of prostheses in recent years, such as haptic feedback, active power, and machine learning for prosthetic control, have opened new doors for improved functioning, satisfaction, and overall quality of life. However, little attention has been paid to ethical considerations surrounding the development and translation of prosthetic technologies into clinical practice. This article, based on current literature, presents perspectives surrounding ethical considerations from the authors' multidisciplinary views as prosthetists (HG, AM, CLM, MGF), as well as combined research experience working directly with people using prostheses (AM, CLM, MGF), wearable technologies for rehabilitation (MGF, BN), machine learning and artificial intelligence (BN, KKQ), and ethics of advanced technologies (KKQ). The target audience for this article includes developers, manufacturers, and researchers of prosthetic devices and related technology. We present several ethical considerations for current advances in prosthetic technology, as well as topics for future research, that may inform product and policy decisions and positively influence the lives of those who can benefit from advances in prosthetic technology.

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