Résumés
Abstract
This paper examines the history of the research and development (R&D) of myoelectric upper limb prosthesis in Canada from 1960 to 2000. It focuses on two of the prosthetic research and training units (PRTUs) that were created and funded by the federal government as a result of the Thalidomide tragedy: the Rehabilitation Centre at the Ontario Crippled Children’s Centre (OCCC) and successor organizations, and the University of New Brunswick’s (UNB) Institute of Biomedical Engineering (the Institute or IBME). Both developed commercial systems for myoelectrically controlled arms and hands. We argue that, in contrast to the common view that research in universities and public research institutions has increasingly moved away from basic problems and to product development and commercialization over the period, research in this field has moved in the opposite direction. We explore these cases in detail and examine the forces at work in this change from a design-oriented approach to one that became research intensive.
Résumé
Cet article examine l’histoire de la recherche et développement (R & D) pour les prothèses myoélectriques de membres supérieurs au Canada de 1960 à 2000. Il se concentre sur deux des unités recherche et de formation sur les prothèses (PRTUs) qui ont été créées et financées par le gouvernement fédéral à la suite de la tragédie de la thalidomide : le Rehabilitation Centre au Ontario Crippled Children’s Centre (OCCC) et les organisations qui lui ont succédé, et le University of New Brunswick’s (UNB) Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME). Les deux ont développé des systèmes commerciaux pour des bras et des mains à commande myoélectrique. Nous soutenons que, contrairement à l’opinion commune à l’effet que la recherche dans les universités et les institutions publiques de recherche s’est de plus en plus éloignée des problèmes fondamentaux pour se concentrer sur le développement et la commercialisation de produits, la recherche dans ce domaine a évolué dans la direction opposée. Nous explorons ces cas en détail et examinons les forces à l’oeuvre dans ce changement d’une approche axée sur la conception vers une approche devenue intensive en recherche.
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Biographical notes
David Foord is assistant professor at St. Thomas University’s Science and Technology Studies Programme. He holds a bachelor of arts degree in history from Campion College, a bachelor of laws degree from Dalhousie University, and a doctorate in philosophy from the University of New Brunswick. His doctoral research was on the history of upper limb biomedical engineering.
Peter Kyberg is the head of the Engineering Science Department of Greenwich University in the UK. He has previously held positions with Oxford University’s Orthopaedic Engineering Centre in the 1990s, as a lecturer at Reading University in the early 2000s, and from 2003 to 2015 as a Canada Research Chair at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of New Brunswick. He has a first class degree from Durham University. His PhD was awarded in 1990 for work on a prosthetic hand at Southampton University.