91热爆

The fake toe, made from wood and leather, was found in the Cairo Museum attached to the mummy of a middle aged woman. It predates the oldest known prosthesis, a Roman bronze Capua leg dating back to 300BC.

Egyptian sarcophagus at Manchester Museum

Jacky Finch, who is carrying out the study at Manchester's Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, is now looking for volunteers who have lost their right big toe to test out a replica of the artefact.

Tests will take place at the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Salford, where volunteers will also try out a model of a second false Egyptian big toe, which is on display at the British Museum.

"The Cairo toe is the most likely of the two to be functional, as it is articulated and shows signs of wear. It is still attached to the foot of the mummy of a female between 50 and 60 years of age."

Jacky hopes his research will prove that the toe was functional and so could be used to form modern designs.

"If either one is functional it may be interesting to manufacture it with modern materials and trial it for use on people with missing toes."