Technology in medicine Most of us take our arms and legs for granted .A mechanical hand with a hinge was invented by a French doctor called Ambroise Pare .This coincided with the development of new materials Artificial limbs were manufactured from plastics , which made them lighter and stronger , and more realistic than ever before .One of the areas these specialists work in is prosthetics : the development of artificial limbs , also known as bionic limbs .Imagine what it must be like you are injured in an accident or have some genetic disease which means you lose the use of an arm or leg , or have to have it amputated This is where doctors and researchers come into the picture Specialists spend their lives looking for new ways to help those in need , using the most advanced technology available to them .Centures later , in the 1500s , records show that artificial limbs were made out of iron and were often made by the same person who made armour .