After a good amount of research, we found that cycling is the most effective form of exercise in terms of getting heart rate up. While researching the limitations cyclists with amputations have, we came to the realization that not everyone uses bikes for exercise. In our AP Human Geography class, we learned that bikes are actually essential to lesser developed countries’ (LDCs’) economy. Bikes are used to get people places (jobs +more) in order to fulfill their basic standards of living. They are not just used as a form of casual exercise because not everyone is fortunate in every country. Not everyone has the luxury to just buy a 50,000 prosthesis. This is where our second point arose. Money is a HUGE factor in determining whether to get a prosthesis or not. Accessibility is important. Not everyone everywhere has the luxury to just by a prosthetic knee when they need one which is mainly due to accessibility and the price of prosthetics. We started thinking about what makes prosthetics so expensive. We were thinking that if there is one factor that makes prosthetics so expensive between people, it might be possible to make a change. The major reason AK prosthetics are expensive is because they have to be adjustable to the specific person they are providing for. If we can make one form of the same prosthetic and make that one prosthetic adjustable to fit each person’s need, it will limit costs by a major amount.
