Feminists have consistently been attacking Barbie dolls for promoting an unhealthy, unrealistic body image in women. Little did they know that the doll's unique physique could create a more realistic body-when placed inside a prosthetic finger.
Jane Bahor, a prosthetist who works in the Medical Center, has discovered that a Barbie doll's flexible legs can be implanted in the joints of prosthetic fingers. She explained that Barbie's joint allows increased mechanical flexibility in a finger, giving patients greater control over their digits.
"Although you could previously only move joints that were in the hand [as opposed to the fingers], the plastic in the legs of Barbie dolls allows patients to position fingers in different flexion," Bahor said. "This way the patient's fingers get a little bit more movement."
She explained that patients bend their fingers by pressing them against a hard surface; they remain in a fixed position until reversed.
The devices are created by placing Barbie's joint inside the prosthesis, thus allowing the finger to move in specific locations without moving the entire hand. Bahor noted that the discovery a significantly increases the flexibility of the finger in question, and that even the smallest amount of movement in such a specialized part of the body can drastically improve its performance.
Glenn Hostetter, the Medical Center's prosthetics clinical supervisor, considers Bahor's discovery a significant contribution to the future of prosthetics.
"This is a very cost-effective... way of placing an articulating joint in a finger," he said. "She has come up with a solution that no one had previously done and I think that it's going to improve the function of prosthetic fingers."
He noted that the use of Barbie doll legs will help prosthetic fingers become more functional than they are cosmetic.
Last year, when Bahor realized the potential use of the doll, she called Mattel to purchase enough Barbies to test her idea. She was pleasantly surprised when Mattel sent her boxes of free dolls.
Although her findings are unorthodox, Bahor said she has long been fascinated by the human hand.
"When you work with prosthetic hands for such a long time, you realize what a beautiful and specialized mechanism the hand is," she said. "When you see how desperate people can become, you look for anything that will potentially improve their situation."
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