Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

The New World Of Pet Prosthetics, Anna Brooks

Capstones

When an abandoned dog was found in Brooklyn with his paw gnawed off, the animal shelter had two options: amputate the leg, or put the dog down. But neither seemed like a solution. So they decided to do something different, and fit the dog for a prosthetic leg. Prosthetics for people have been around for millennia, and now these devices are moving into the animal kingdom. This story explores the new world of animal prosthetics, and how these devices have changed the lives of animals like Mr. Stubbs — the first alligator with a prosthetic tail — and saved the …

Single Arm Recumbent Bicycle, Alexander Borsotti, Ryan Westermann, Sean Liston

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of this report is to outline and cover the scope of work for the Single Arm Recumbent Bicycle Senior Project. The report will give an introduction of the problem, a background of the existing research or products relating to our project, the objectives of our project, our project management plan, our final design, manufacturing, testing, our project management, and final recommendations for improving the final design. The team is being supported by the Quality of Life Program, a non-profit organization that works to improve the lives of those injured in duty while serving our nation.

Up until now, …

The Effect Of Coronal Prosthetic Alignment Changes On Socket Reaction Moments, Spatiotemporal Parameters, And Perception Of Alignment During Gait In Individuals With Transtibial Amputation, Hiroshi Hashimoto, Toshiki Kobayashi, Fan Gao, Masataka Kataoka, Kuniharu Okuda

Kinesiology and Health Promotion Faculty Publications

Introduction: The alignment of a prosthesis is clinically determined based on observations by clinicians and the subjective perception of amputees during gait. However, this process has been reported to be unreliable. Socket reaction moment has been reported to be significantly impacted by alignment changes, but the impact of these alignment changes on other gait parameters is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of coronal alignment changes of a transtibial prosthesis on socket reaction moment, spatiotemporal parameters, and perceptions of alignment during gait in amputees.

Methods: Nine individuals with transtibial amputation participated in this study. Socket …

An Engineer’S Take On The Bone-Ligament Interface: Utilizing Novel Technology To Improve Clinical Outcomes, Emma Garcia

Shared Knowledge Conference

Ligament repair is a common surgical practice with a significant lack of viable replacements. The current gold standard for repair is the use of tendon grafts from cadavers or from another place in the patient’s body; however, these often cause more problems than they solve including immune responses or a lack of mobility in another place in the body. Synthetic replacements are of growing interest, though the ability to mimic the complex structure of the ligament and how it connects to the bone remains an obstacle. Our lab built a 3D bioprinter combined with an electrospinner to address this complicated …

3d Bioprinting And Near-Field Electrospinning Composite Scaffolds For The Bone-Ligament Interface, Emma Garcia, Christina Salas, Matthew N. Rush, Christopher Buksa, Marissa Perez, Ava Mauser, Steven Nery, Fermin Prieto, Darielys Morales

Shared Knowledge Conference

3D bioprinting is an additive manufacturing technique that can utilize a range of bioactive materials to construct specific architectures that mimic native tissue. Near-field electrospinning (NFE) offers precise alignment control to create non-woven mats with high tensile strengths. We built a custom E-spin printer that enables layer-by-layer alternating deposition between 3D bioprinting and NFE to create composite scaffolds for the bone-ligament interface. This complex region is difficult to simulate due to its functionally graded mechanical and biochemical properties. We created NFE poly(caprolactone) highly aligned micro-fibers which formed collagen fibril-like bundles. Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate with decellularized bone was encased in the …

Tips For Allied Health Professionals To Successfully Engage With Research: A Commentary, Siti Nurliyana Abdullah, Saravana Kumar

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

While allied health professionals are encouraged to engage with research, there are numerous challenges to do so in practice. In this commentary, we reflect on some of these challenges and provide some simple tips on strategies that can be used by allied health professionals to overcome these challenges. These tips may provide a starting point for allied health professionals to successfully engage with research.

The New Hero Of Upper Limb Prosthetics, Erin Miskell

Biology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

This paper looks at the history and future of upper extremity prosthesis. The goal of this paper was to compare three different up and coming technological advances in the field of prosthesis that may help the devices to become more life-like for their users. Of the three different approaches looked at, the Open Bionics Hero Arm is praised as being the best option.

Three Professions Come Together For An Interdisciplinary Approach To 3d Printing: Occupational Therapy, Biomedical Engineering, And Medical Librarianship, Joan Wagner, Laurel Scheinfeld, Blanche Leeman, Keith Pardini, Jamie Saragossi, Katie Flood

Library Faculty Publications

Background: Although many libraries have offered 3D printing as a service or available technology, there is a lack of information on course-integrated programs for 3D printing in which the library played a primary role. Therefore, librarians at the Touro College School of Health Sciences began exploring 3D printing for inclusion in the occupational and physical therapy curriculum. Case Presentation: The goal of this project was to educate occupational and physical therapy students and faculty about the potential applications of 3D printing in health care and provide hands-on experience, while increasing collaboration between librarians and faculty. Students’ tasks included designing and …

The Impact Of Prosthetics On Amputee Quality Of Life, Courtney Tabor

Liberal Arts Capstones

After someone has a limb amputated, their lifestyle must be rearranged to accommodate for the loss of the limb. This can include adjusting to an inability to do tasks that used to come easily and a drastic reduction in mobility. They may now require assistance with caring for themselves. As a side effect, amputees often experience a significant level of depression and anxiety related to their situation. A selection of literature was analyzed for the physiological, psychological, and sociological effects of losing a limb, and then for the ways in which a prosthetic limb would alleviate some of these issues. …

A Study On The Development Of Robotic Prosthesis, Alexandra Knight

Undergraduate Research Conference

This paper is a multi-analysis study of the development of robotic prosthesis. There are many types of robotic prosthesis, some of which are already in circulation. However, true robotic prosthetics which can move in the exact fashion of the original limb are still in the early stages of prototyping. In experimenting there have been problems found in the methods of communicating movement and the manufacturing of sensory recording material. Using a comparison of the failed and successful experiments it is possibly to approximate the material that will be used and the cost of future market ready robotic prosthesis.

Integration Of A Sensory Driven Model For Hand Grasp Function In 3d Printed Prostheses, Austin T. Hetherington

Senior Theses

My Honors Thesis was completed through the Biomedical Engineering senior design project I worked on. Our project took a mechanically operated 3D printed prosthetic hand and automated the process by which it makes a grasp. The purpose of this project was to provide an affordable, automatic prosthetic hand to those either capable and incapable of wrist flexion. The current 3D printed prosthetic models require users to bend their wrist to initiate a simple grasp. However, our design took an alternative approach by using an EMG sensor placed on the ventral side of the forearm to record muscle activity, which, upon …

Subthreshold Vibration Does Not Affect Walking Performance Of Transtibial Amputees, Charles Sloan

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Ian Sloan , Jenny A. Kent, Shane R. Wurdeman, Adam L. Jacobsen, Kota Z. Takahashi, Nicholas Stergiou. Subthreshold vibration does not affect walking performance of transtibial amputees. Objective: To test the hypothesis that adding subthreshold vibrations to the thigh of the affected limb on amputees would allow for better control of the prosthesis. Setting: Biomechanics Research Building at UNO. Participants: 14 transtibial amputees (age range, 33-72y). Intervention: Applying subthreshold vibrations to thigh of affected limb for three different conditions; white noise signal, pink noise signal, and none. Outcome Measures: Step length, step width, and step …

A Breast Prosthesis Infection Update: Two-Year Incidence, Risk Factors And Management At Single Institution, Ashley Nadia Boustany, Shady Elmaraghi, Nneamaka Agochukwu, Benjamin Cloyd, Adam J. Dugan, Brian Rinker

Surgery Faculty Publications

Background: Infection following augmentation and prosthetic-based breast reconstruction can cause significant physical and psychological distress for patients. It may delay adjuvant therapies and compromise aesthetic outcomes. The aim of this study is to identify modifiable risk factors for infection and identify common bacterial isolates to achieve optimal outcomes for patients.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed for patients undergoing implant-based breast reconstruction over a 2-year period. In each case, we documented demographics, co-morbidities, complications and antibiotic use. We reviewed treatments, infectious species cultured where applicable and all outcomes.

Results: A total of 292 patients met the inclusion criteria. Fifty-five …

The Effects Of Emerging Technology On Healthcare And The Difficulties Of Integration, Skyler J. Pavlish-Carpenter

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: Disruptive technology describes technology that is significantly more advanced than previous iterations, such as: 3D printing, genetic manipulation, stem cell research, innovative surgical procedures, and computer-based charting software. These technologies often require extensive overhauls to implement into older systems and must overcome many difficult financial and societal complications before they can be widely used. In a field like healthcare that makes frequent advancements, these difficulties can mean that the technology will not be utilized to its full potential or implemented at all.

Objective: To determine the inhibiting factors that prevent disruptive technology from being implemented in conventional healthcare.

Methods: …

Grip Force Control Using Prosthetic And Anatomical Limbs, Michael S. Trujillo, Daniel M. Russell, David I. Anderson, Marilyn Mitchell

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction

Skillful object manipulation in various activities of daily living requires accurate and economical modulation of grip force, yet experimental studies investigating grip force using a prosthesis are lacking. The purpose of this study was to compare grip force output between two types of upper-limb prosthetic prehensors. We hypothesized a relationship between grip force output and the muscular tension needed to control the prehensor.

Materials and Methods

Ten able-bodied participants attempted to produce a static target grip force using a voluntary opening and voluntary closing prosthetic simulator and their anatomical hand. The target forces were 0.49 N, 4 N, and …

Design And Analysis Of A 3d-Printed, Thermoplastic Elastomer (Tpe) Spring Element For Use In Corrective Hand Orthotics, Kevin Thomas Richardson

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

This thesis proposes an algorithm that determine the geometry of 3D-printed, custom-designed spring element bands made of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) for use in a wearable orthotic device to aid in the physical therapy of a human hand exhibiting spasticity after stroke. Each finger of the hand is modeled as a mechanical system consisting of a triple-rod pendulum with nonlinear stiffness at each joint and forces applied at the attachment point of each flexor muscle. The system is assumed quasi-static, which leads to a torque balance between the flexor tendons in the hand, joint stiffness and the design force applied to …