Caroline Eichler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Margarethe Caroline Eichler
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| Born | 1808 or 1809 |
| Died | 6 September 1843 Berlin, Germany
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| Nationality | Prussian (German) |
| Occupation | Prosthetic inventor |
| Known for | Inventor of the first practical modern hand prosthesis |
Margarethe Caroline Eichler was a clever German inventor and instrument maker. She designed special body parts called prostheses. Born in 1808 or 1809, she died in Berlin on September 6, 1843. Caroline was the first woman in Prussia to get a patent. She earned this patent for her amazing leg prosthesis. She also invented the first useful modern hand prosthesis.
Contents
Caroline's Early Life
Caroline Eichler was born in 1808 or 1809. She was the third daughter of a painter named Johann Gottlieb Eichler. In her time, it was hard for young women to get a good education or learn a trade. Even though we don't know much about her schooling, her inventions show she knew a lot about physics and how machines work. Around 1826, Caroline worked as a nanny. Later, she became a nurse.
How Her Inventions Began
While working as a nurse, Caroline saw how much people who had lost limbs suffered. She felt very strongly about helping them. She wanted to create something that would make losing a leg "less sensitive and detrimental." This inspired her to invent new devices.
In 1832, Caroline designed a special prosthetic leg. It had a knee joint that could move. On November 23, 1833, she received a 10-year patent for it. This made her the first woman in Prussia to get a patent! Before her invention, most artificial legs were just stiff pieces of wood. They were often built by carpenters or blacksmiths.
Caroline also got patents for her leg in the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Bavaria. This meant she was the only one who could make and sell her special leg for ten years. A newspaper called the Allgemeine Preussische Staats-Zeitung reported on her patent in 1833.
She advertised her new leg in her own writings. She was proud that her design was approved by Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach. He was a top surgeon at Berlin's Charité Hospital. He even praised her design after one of his patients used it successfully.
Caroline kept working on new ideas. On November 24, 1836, she received another Prussian patent for an artificial hand. This was the first useful artificial hand that could move on its own. After this, Caroline started a business in Berlin. She made and sold her amazing prostheses. Sadly, Caroline Eichler died at the age of 34.
Her Amazing Leg Prosthesis
Caroline Eichler's leg prosthesis was much better than other designs of her time. For example, her leg had a knee joint that moved on its own. Older designs either had no knee joint or needed a cord to be pulled to make them move.
Her artificial leg had a metal shaft for the upper part of the leg. The lower leg was made of light wood, like linden or willow. It was covered with canvas. The foot had two parts, also made of wood. All these parts were connected to the moving knee joint. The metal part could be shaped easily to fit the person's leg stump.
One important thing about her design was how light it was. It weighed only about 2.1 kilograms (4.6 pounds). This was much lighter than solid wooden legs.
Caroline used her nursing experience to make sure her device was practical. Before her invention, prosthetic legs were often fitted directly onto the stump. This made them uncomfortable for long-term use. Caroline designed her prosthesis to fit over bandages and a padded leather funnel. A strap over the shoulder held the prosthesis in place. This avoided putting too much pressure on the leg stump.
Her knee joint worked without needing a lock. It moved using special gut strings and springs. Caroline said these worked like human tendons and muscles. The knee would bend when walking, and the springs would bring the leg back straight when lifted. The person using the leg did not have to pull any strings.
Caroline said that walking with her prosthesis was like a toddler learning to walk or someone learning to dance. She believed crutches were not needed. Only a walking stick might be helpful at first. After one or two weeks of practice, people could walk on different surfaces and even climb stairs without a stick.
Her Clever Hand Prosthesis
Caroline Eichler's artificial hand, patented in 1836, was the first useful artificial hand that could move without the wearer using their other hand. She built on ideas from Peter Baliff, a dentist in Berlin, who had designed a hand prosthesis around 1812.
Baliff had looked at the "Iron Hand" of a knight named Götz von Berlichingen. He designed a new hand, but it was never actually built because it was too difficult to use. One problem was that Baliff's hand could actively open its fingers, but they closed passively using springs. This meant the hand wasn't strong enough to grip things well. Also, it was made of heavy iron and didn't look or feel natural.
Caroline Eichler's hand prosthesis also used the muscles in the upper arm stump to move it. But her system was very different from Baliff's. Her fingers could actively close and open again using small springs made of nickel silver wire. Each finger joint had one of these springs. Thin gut strings, about 1 millimeter thick, helped transmit the power.
Her hand had three moving joints for each finger and two for the thumb. You could even move each finger separately using five sliders on the wrist, but only passively. Unlike older iron hands, Caroline's prosthesis had an opposable thumb. This meant it could make a "forceps grip" (like picking something up between your thumb and finger) using a sixth slider.
Caroline's design also used some ideas from the old Iron Hand. The wrist could bend, and the hand could rotate slightly.
Her hand prosthesis was made from nickel silver sheet. It was shaped using molds of the person's arm stump and their healthy hand. It was very light, weighing only about 125 grams (4.4 ounces). The inside of the finger parts was covered with cork to help with gripping. People wearing this hand could write, sew, embroider, and even lift things up to 9 kilograms (20 pounds).
The hand could be easily taken apart. This made repairs simpler and kept costs down. However, it was still quite expensive, costing 75 to 100 thalers. The nickel silver material Caroline used became the standard for artificial hands for many years.
See also
In Spanish: Caroline Eichler para niños
