Test center for replacement links

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The test center for replacement limbs was a scientific institution with the primary purpose of examining prostheses available on the market (at that time: “replacement limbs”) from a medical and technical point of view for their respective design and quality and thus to determine their suitability for different user groups. It was founded in autumn 1915 on the initiative of the Association of German Engineers in Berlin and started work on February 1, 1916. The focus of their work was the care of war disabled soldiers, who should be enabled to return to gainful employment by providing suitable prostheses and work aids . The establishment of the test center for replacement links can thus be seen as a reaction by German doctors and engineers to the First World War .

Facilities and places

The business premises and workshops of the central office of the test center for replacement members were opened at the beginning of 1916 with the approval of the State Secretary for the Interior in the premises of the Reichsanstalt "Permanent Exhibition for Workers Welfare", in Frauenhoferstr. 11/12, housed in Berlin-Charlottenburg . With the approval of the Royal Prussian War Ministry , additional departments were created in Danzig , Düsseldorf , Gleiwitz and Hamburg in the course of 1916 .

Expert activities and test procedures

Expert activity

The test center was appointed as the official expert body by the Royal Prussian War Ministry in 1916 . As a representative of the War Ministry, Senior Staff Physician Schwiening was accepted into the board of the test center. This is said to have ensured that the Prussian War Ministry has a certain say in the selection of the prostheses and aids to be tested.

After the start of testing for the War Ministry, prosthesis developers and manufacturers increasingly submitted test applications. The test center also worked on behalf of civilians and companies. In such cases, a preliminary notification of defects was first drawn up and sent. This procedure made it possible to improve the prostheses and aids submitted for examination before the actual report was written.

Independent of the applicant, all final reports were sent to the Prussian War Ministry.

Test procedure

The testing of prostheses and aids for arm amputees was carried out by arm amputees from various professional fields who were specially employed by the test center. They tested the respective replacement members and aids to be tested over a period of several weeks in several hours of work with various tools, equipment and machines.

For the testing of prostheses and aids for leg amputees, appropriately amputated skilled workers from various professional fields were also employed. In addition to the possible uses in various work activities, the performance of the replacement legs was also tested when walking on different floors and inclined surfaces, when climbing ladders and stairs, as well as when sitting and getting up.

The monitoring of the respective test processes and the determination of the test results were carried out by the members of the test center under the direction of the secretary.

Requirements and assessment criteria

The quality of a prosthesis was determined by test commissions made up of doctors and engineers on the basis of the fulfillment / non-fulfillment of the following criteria:

  • simple shape
  • long durability
  • light weight
  • convenient adjustability
  • quick to put on
  • good fit and secure attachment
  • inexpensive manufacture using mass production methods
  • Due to the war, the possibility of using substitute materials
  • easy maintenance and repairability
  • under standard components manufactured and easy to relating constituents
  • advantageous and safe usability for activities in everyday life and the performance of certain jobs

Research and development

Based on the experience and knowledge gained in the test procedures, the test center for replacement limbs began to independently design and manufacture prostheses and work aids. The following products, among others, have emerged from this research and development activity since 1916: Bandages for upper and forearm amputees with various stump shapes and degrees of amputation, the so-called Berlin hand, a "wooden hand" with flexible thumbs and fixed fingers, as well as two working arms that are placed under the Designations Brandenburg-Arm and Tannenberg-Arm were driven out.

Leaflets

The knowledge gained from the work of the test center for replacement links was published in the form of leaflets . Some of these leaflets appeared as individual publications, but some were also published as articles in specialist journals, such as B. the magazine of the Association of German Engineers . By the end of the First World War in November 1918, a total of 17 leaflets had been published.

  • Leaflet 1 deals with the “organization and activities of the inspection body” up to the status of April 1, 1916. In addition, the “universal replacement hand for agricultural workers with amputated forearm” developed by the farmer August Keller is reported. The technical reporting on the mentioned universal replacement hand was taken over by Georg Schlesinger , the medical reporting by Moritz Borchardt and Richard Radike .
  • Leaflet 2 deals with the "normalization of the screw threads and the fastening pins of the extension pieces". The reporting was done by Schlesinger and Leymann .
  • Leaflet 3 deals with the “General Principles for the Examination of Substitute Arms” drawn up by the testing center.
  • Leaflet 4 deals with the most commonly used “forearm bandages” at the time and their usability for various amputation stumps as well as for carrying out light and heavy activities. The technical reporting was done by Schlesinger, the medical reporting by Borchardt and Radike.
  • Leaflet 5 describes "the performance of severely disabled people with and without a replacement link".
  • Leaflet 6 explains "the friction joints, their properties and construction conditions". Schlesinger and C. Volk discuss the influence of the screws and handles used for fixing on the strength of the joint. It also addresses the question of whether and to what extent the use of friction joints for the elbow and wrist of replacement arms proves to be useful.
  • Leaflet 7 reports on the "development of the construction of artificial hands and arms". Schlesinger and Rath give an overview of the historical development of artificial hands and present a tabular overview of various constructions with different grip options.
  • Leaflet 8 deals with "amputees in craft, industry and agriculture". It forms the basis of a series of studies on the use and possible uses of working and replacement arms in various professions, which are continued in leaflets 9 to 14.
  • Leaflet 9 describes the possible uses of working and replacement arms in the professions of baker and varnisher.
  • Leaflet 10 deals with possible uses of working and replacement arms in the professions of saddler and shoemaker.
  • Leaflet 11 explains the possible uses of labor and replacement arms in the tailor's profession.
  • Leaflet 12 looks at possible uses of labor and replacement arms in the jobs of job maker and carpenter.
  • Leaflet 13 reports on possible uses of labor and replacement arms in the locksmith's profession.
  • Leaflet 14 describes possible uses of labor and replacement arms in agricultural activities.
  • Leaflet 15 provides an overview of the suitability of various passively movable hands for everyday tasks.
  • Leaflet 16 records the "bandages for upper arm amputees and those disarticulated in the shoulder joint" that meet the criteria.
  • Leaflet 17 reports on "supports in radial paralysis".

Members

According to Konrad Hartmann, the test center for replacement members on July 1, 1918, included Senate President Hartmann and Oberstabsarzt Schwiening as chairmen.

Successor institutions

The successor institutions of the test center for replacement links include:

  • from 1939: the Reich Office for Artificial Limbs
  • from 1947: the research institute with a test center for artificial limbs
    • c. 1972: Renaming of the research institute with testing center for artificial limbs to testing center for orthopedic aids (POH)
    • 1980: Establishment of the test center for medical devices (PMG) as a supplement to the existing test center for orthopedic aids
    • 1997: Renaming of the testing center for orthopedic aids to testing and certification center for medical products
  • 2001: Foundation of the testing and certification body Berlin Cert GmbH

literature

  • Curt Barth: Report on the activity of the workshops of the test center for replacement members in Charlottenburg , in: Archive for orthopedic and trauma surgery, with special consideration of fracture theory and orthopedic-surgical technology 17 (2), June 1919, pp. 180-198 .
  • Georg Schlesinger : The test center for replacement links in Berlin Charlottenburg in: Journal of the Association of German Engineers 60 (14), 1916. P. 268–276.
  • Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement members in: Permanent exhibition for workers' welfare and test center for replacement members (ed.): Replacement members and work aids for war invalids and accident injuries. Berlin 1919. pp. 9-57.
  • Konrad Hartmann: General meeting of the test center for replacement members Berlin on April 15, 1919 in the test center for replacement members , in: Archives for orthopedic and accident surgery, with special consideration of fracture theory and orthopedic-surgical technology 17 (2), June 1919, p 341-363.
  • N / A: affairs of the association. The test center for replacement members in: Journal of the Association of German Engineers 59 (51), 1915. P. 1048.
  • o. V .: General meeting of the test center for replacement members Berlin, from January 21 to 23, 1918 in Langenbeck-Virchowhaus, Part I , in: Archives for orthopedic and trauma surgery, with special consideration of fracture theory and orthopedic-surgical technology 16 (1), March 1918, pp. 111-196.
  • N / A : General meeting of the test center for replacement members Berlin, from January 21 to 23, 1918 in Langenbeck-Virchowhaus, part II , in: Archives for orthopedic and trauma surgery, with special consideration of fracture theory and orthopedic-surgical technology 16 (2), December 1918, pp. 277-370.
  • Richard Radike: Activity report of the test center for replacement limbs in the third year of its existence for the period from February 1, 1918 to December 31, 1918 , in: Archive for orthopedic and trauma surgery, with special consideration of fracture theory and orthopedic-surgical technology 17 (2) June 1919, pp. 173-179.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b o. V.: Affairs of the association. The test center for replacement links, ZVDI 59 (51), 1915, p. 1048.
  2. ↑ a b c Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links. Berlin, 1919. p. 19.
  3. ↑ Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links. Berlin, 1919. pp. 18-19.
  4. ↑ a b Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links. Berlin, 1919. p. 22.
  5. ↑ Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links . Berlin 1919, p. 19; 22 .
  6. ↑ Richard Radike: Activity Report of the Department for replacement members for the period 1 February 1918 to 31 December 1918 . S. 173 .
  7. ↑ a b c Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links . Berlin 1919, p. 24 .
  8. ↑ Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links . Berlin 1919, p. 23 .
  9. ↑ Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links . Berlin 1919, p. 30 .
  10. ↑ Richard Radike: The Brandenburg-arm . In: German Medical Weekly . tape 42 , no. 34 , 1916, pp. 1040-1041 .
  11. ↑ Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links . Berlin 1919, p. 34-36 .
  12. ↑ Konrad Hartmann: The test center for replacement links. Berlin 1919, pp. 20-22.
  13. ↑ Mark Kraft, Catherine Disselhorst-Klug: History of Rehabilitation Technology . In: Mark Kaft, Catherine Disselhorst-Klug (Hrsg.): Biomedical technology - Reabilitationstechnik . tape 10 . De Gruyter, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-11-025208-8 , pp. 19-20 .
  14. ↑ Overview of the history on the Berlin CERT GmbH website. Retrieved July 27, 2016 .