New amputees are often focused on getting back to the tasks of daily life and regaining a basic level of mobility and function. But once these goals are achieved, a desire to accomplish greater goals may follow. Humans have an endless desire to do, have, and be more; for people with limb loss, this can mean pushing the limits of what they think they are capable of—often aided by adaptive prostheses. For example, you might want to be able to run or swim after you learn how to walk again, or you might want to take up a new hobby or get back to an old one. Regardless of the level or duration of your limb loss, it’s always worth investigating whether an adaptive device exists to help you with any activity you need or want to perform.
In the last ten years, the world of prosthetic limb adaptation has advanced dramatically through proprietary engineering developments from major prosthetics manufacturers and through free-thinking individuals and organizations seeking to make a large impact through open-source sharing.
One such organization, e-NABLE, has created a game-changing, open-source way for amputees to get the benefits of functional prostheses at low cost. The organization was founded after two strangers created a prosthetic hand for a child using 3-D printing technology and then gave the plans away for free so others could replicate the device. Thus, the 3-D Mechanical Hand-Maker Movement was born, which today boasts 1,500 collaborators and design plans for nine adaptive hands. The Raptor Hand is one example that provides children with limb loss a grip that is not possible with cosmetic hands, and aside from the low-cost materials to make it, it’s completely free. (www.enablingthefuture.org)
Photograph by Jen Owen
of enablingthefuture.org.
TRS, a Boulder, Colorado, prosthetics and terminal-device (TD) manufacturer, was founded in 1979 by Bob Radocy, who sustained an upper-limb amputation at age 22; he welcomes input from consumers about what products they’d like to see the company develop. Adaptive equipment for golf has remained a popular seller, Radocy says. The TRS Eagle TD, for example, was created to store energy on the backswing to help improve club head speed at the bottom of the downswing, resulting in improved power and driving distance. In recent years, TRS’ adaptive devices for sports like kayaking, bicycling, weight lifting, and more have also gained popularity among amputees who are interested in more physically demanding activities.
“My favorite personal activities are weight conditioning, archery, and skiing,” says Radocy. “I use a combination of devices to meet the challenges that those activities present.” However, the company offers more than adaptive sports devices, including upper-limb solutions for the musically inclined, such as its guitar pick adapter, violin bow adapter, and drumstick adapter. (www.trsprosthetics.com)
at the beach with his family.
Photograph courtesy of TAD.
Amputee Blade Runners (ABR), a nonprofit organization that provides free running prostheses to children and adults with lower-limb loss, helped push for a new sport foot to be developed by one of its partners, Fillauer LLC. The AllPro foot was created after the organization met 11-year-old Noah, who is missing both hands and one leg below the knee. Normally, ABR would provide an athlete with separate running and walking legs, but because Noah has no hands, swapping the legs back and forth would be more difficult. “Noah was actually the driving force behind this foot, which was made with the mindset of a running foot that could also be used to play sports and wear as an everyday walking foot,” says Aaron Fitzsimmons, CO, PT, FAAOP, co-founder of ABR. “After two years of development and 40 different trial versions, we now have an option for young children to use one foot for everything.” (www.fillauer.com)
Swimming is another popular activity. In the past, amputees had to remove their prosthesis before getting in the water. Now, with technology like Ottobock’s X3, the first waterproof microprocessor leg, they can enjoy a seamless transition between dry land to water and back—without hopping, crawling, or using crutches. Furthermore, prosthetic flippers, such as the SCUBA leg developed by Pongratz Engineering, now exist to help lower-limb amputees gain extra underwater kick. (www.ottobock.com, www.pongratz-engineering.com/product-design-gallery/sporting)
Mountain bikers, boaters, beachgoers, and others will find use for prosthetic covers, such as Aqualeg’s transfemoral Sport Cover and Fabtech System’s Advanced Cover Systems. These relatively inexpensive products help protect an amputee’s most valuable piece of equipment from water, mud, and sand he or she might encounter during outdoor recreational activities. (www.swimprosthesis.com, www.fabtechsystems.com)
Finally, the N-Abler II TD by Texas Assistive Devices (TAD), which features an angle adjustment of 60 degrees and 360 degree rotation, allows upper-limb amputees to use more than 100 interchangeable tools and implements. These products, which the company also sells, include wrenches, fishing rods, cooking and cutlery tools, everyday hand tools, and more. (www.n-abler.org)
Today, these and many other adaptive devices are helping make it possible for amputees to accomplish almost any goal. And if no device exists to help you accomplish yours, you might contact an organization like e-NABLE (www.enablingthefuture.org) to see if it can connect you with someone who can help you produce one using 3-D printing technology. The bottom line is that the limitations of the past are constantly being redefined, and for amputees today, the future is wide open.
