Prosthesis almost like natural skin

The prostheses of arms , hands, legs and fingers They have stopped looking artificial. Thanks to the cosmology, a procedure qualified by many of "art ", The prostheses of the extremities they look like real and now they come to be designed with freckles, veins, fingerprints and even tattoos.

Until not long ago, the prosthetists used a palette of approximately 20 colors that they placed next to the healthy part of the limb to try to match the tones of the apparatus and of the skin . Although this is still the most widely used procedure in the world, technological advances and new "skin" materials on the market allow for a more natural appearance. Most of these new products are made with silicone.


Creators of prosthetic skin

The American company Alatheia Prostetics is responsible for Dermatos, a kind of bespoke prosthetic skin. According Michael Kaczkowski , anaplastology director of the company, it is a complete adaptable process for the fabrication of prostheses as small as the fingertip or large as a leg. "It can even be used to cover dents, and improves the holding capacity of hands operated by the body Y bionics . It stimulates the properties of the visual aspect of each stratum of the skin it represents, "he adds.

For its part, Aesthetic Concerns Prosthetics manufactures its own prostheses as well as silicone skin layers that can coat devices manufactured by other companies. The company has created LIVINGSKIN, a silicone product, sculpted to measure and painted by artisans; the process includes a clear layer of silicone on the outside that imitates the epidermis and using very long brushes the artists paint the parts from the inside in a process "inside and outside". Different colors are used because the skin tone It is not a consistent color, but rather a mixture of textures and nuances. The skin around the knuckles, for example, often has more red pigmentation, just like the palms.

Finally, the ARTech laboratory produces only epidermis as it covers prosthetic extremities. Mike Holt, president and co-owner, says it's possible imitate an unharmed part "sins for hair and hair for hair". Everything translates into quality of life for the prosthetic patient.