Modified Spoon

This utensil represents an assistive technology used by a patient afflicted with Hansen's Disease, a chronic bacterial infection commonly referred to as leprosy. Upon infection and left untreated, the bacteria M. leprae damages an individual's skin, nerves, hands, feet, and eyes. Due to repeated secondary infections as a result of nerve damage to hands and feet, the afflicted often experience loss of tissue and shortening and absorption of bone, resulting in permanent deformation. As an extension of the hand, this common and simple spoon, soldered with a metal hoop, provided independence in the daily life of a patient who had lost all ability to feel, hold, and grasp after the loss of all fingers.