Prosthetics
In a narrow sense, prosthetics is a branch of medicine, specifically of surgery, concerned with the replacement of missing body parts (upper and lower limbs, and parts thereof) after amputation. It is related to orthotics, a branch of medicine that deals with the support of weak or ineffective joints or muscles using supportive braces and splints. In dentistry, prosthetics or prosthodontics is that branch concerned with the replacement of missing teeth and other oral structures. In this narrow sense, a prosthesis is a replacement artificial limb or tooth. In a broader sense, prosthesis is the name for any artifact used to restore bodily functions, and prosthetics is the field concerned with the development and fitting of artificial body parts, which is the sense at issue here.
Approaches to Prosthetics
Prostheses in this broad sense are an important focus of the relatively new field of bioengineering, or biomedical engineering, which is concerned with the application of engineering techniques to medicine and the biomedical sciences. Bioengineering is itself a broad field, with applications ranging from molecular imaging tools to medical radiation devices. The development of prosthetic techniques and devices is only one of its interests.
Several areas in bioengineering have special relevance to prosthetics.
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