Barbie Legs

Introduction

One thing that's been at the top of holiday lists for decades is the classic Barbie doll. But this year, Barbie may be giving a gift of her own. The famous fashion doll could bring some flexibility to patients with hand injuries.

Podcast

Barbie Legs

Transcript

Introducing Prosthetic Finger Barbie. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

Over the years, the Barbie doll has gone through several modifications, to keep up with our evolving social values. But this year, Barbie's outdone herself. She's donated her own knee joints to help patients with prosthetic fingers.

The idea wasn't actually Barbie's. It's the brainchild of Jane Bahor, an anaplastologist at Duke University Medical Center. She was talking with an amputee about how rigid most prosthetic fingers are.

Bahor:
"So we were thinking if we could just make a bend, you know, like a Barbie doll leg. And sort of the light bulb went off and this young lady went home and dug up old Barbie dolls from her sister's toy chest, and we cut them open and found out what made that knee work."

They discovered a simple, cheap, and elegant ratchet joint, that's as stable as it is flexible.

Bahor:
"It's a two-piece contraption that goes within the plastic leg and these two pieces connect at the knee in a little ratchet joint, and then they just click into different positions."

The result is a bendable prosthetic finger. You have to use your other hand to bend it, but it's a big step up from no joint at all. And Dr. Bahor says the Mattel Company, which makes Barbie, has donated plenty of knee joints to the project. So no more dolls will have to go under the knife.

For the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I’m Bob Hirshon.

Making Sense of the Research

Important discoveries can be made from everyday observations. A patient who was unhappy with the rigidity of her prosthetic hand envied the flexibility of the joints on Barbie dolls. A researcher was inspired to take apart a doll to see how they worked, and found that the doll's knee joint is ideal for use as an artificial knuckle. New ideas and connections are all around us, waiting to be discovered. This story could be a jumping off point for the discussion of materials science, systems, the human organism and appropriate technology. It also illustrates the fact that technology need not be complicated in order to be effective.

Now try to answer the following questions:

1. How did the idea for improving the prosthetic finger develop?
2. What does an anaplastologist do?
3. What have researchers learned from studying Barbie's knee?
4. Can you find another use for a ratchet joint?
5. Technology need not be complicated in order to be effective. Can you think of other inventions that came from common, everyday materials?

Going Further

For an interactive simulation of the movement of robotic joints, go to Degrees of Freedom and Get a Grip on Robotics on the Tech Museum of Innovation website.