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biomechanics

Mar 23
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Are You Able to Manage Bright Ideas and Promote Innovation?

By Biodesigns, biomechanics, Food for thought, HiFi, Lower Extremity, Military, Orthotics, Prosthetics, Upper Extremity
By: Julie Alley
Recently saw a “Bright Ideas” post and cartoon on LinkedIn (thanks Brent) stating how we manage and encourage bright ideas will determine the future of O&P. I have thought about the question of product and technique adoption a lot, as one of our goals is to improve the standard of care in interface designs in O&P, but more generally, improve all limb device integration.
   
Over the years, I have seen it is easier to ignore bright ideas or new discoveries instead of embracing them quickly. Look at Edison. Few could understand the life-altering benefits of the light bulb. And we see this time and time again. Many products take years to gain traction or adoption. So why are we so slow to move and why would someone ignore a bright area or new discovery? For me, everything comes down to motivation and if you are personally motivated to do something. So what motivates someone to disregard or pass on a big idea? Now I’m no psychologist and I don’t claim to be one, but I believe there are many possible answers. Is it pure laziness, a good enough mentality, complacency, or I’ve done it this way for so long that I don’t want to change? Is it ego or not created it here syndrome? Is it not knowing enough about something or the inability to comprehend the idea? Is it seen as helping the competition? Is it insecurities? Is it easier to try and rip it off? Is it a fear of failing? Is it a bad manager or supervisor? Is it too many distractions, the belief that it would take too long to implement, perhaps a disbelief in the benefit of the new idea or product, one not seeing it as being valuable or worth the price or investment? Is it short term vs. long term thinking, is it distractions at work or home, is it not having stake in the new idea, is it tunnel vision, is it how or what you were taught in school the dictates your world view, is it not a priority, and the list goes on. Coming from outside the industry into this industry, I quickly noticed that the value of the prosthetist is minimized and the main focus is on the components, with the threshold for success being acceptance or delivery of the device at that one moment in time, even before the patient has had ample time to test and use the device. If this is the best we can achieve, then innovation, at least in the interface will never be achieved by the masses. If the industry can look at themselves and say our high risk of falls in femoral and tibial prostheses, and low acceptance rates in upper limb, is not acceptable, then maybe there is hope. For us, biodesigns will continue as a company to push for superior interfaces, as this is the platform or core for the whole system. And we will stand with the few also pushing for improved designs, with the hope that the industy will follow. If the role of the prosthetist and interface continues to be minimized, reimbursement will continue to fall. The schools/master programs can help push the change, but if they continue to focus on the past with very little emphasis on newer designs, outcome measures, biomechanical principles, gait analysis, functional range of performance, energy expenditure, alignment, soft tissue management, etc., the future O&P clinicians, will have much to learn. And if the prosthetist doesn’t learn how to fight for their place in the system, based on an experience and expertise few other allied health professionals have, then you will be replaced. Anyone can learn how to take a few measurements and send them to fabrication. But very few can make a patient who has lost a limb feel whole again.
May 22
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Our Brain Can Change and Adapt, But Can You?

By Articles, Biodesigns, biomechanics, HiFi, Prosthetics, Socket Technology

In prosthetics, our ultimate goal should transcend the physical act of mere device delivery and extend into the realm of total device embodiment. This research is very interesting as it highlights the brain’s ability to adapt and change in significant ways. Prosthesis acceptance is a problem many struggle with and it is evident from the feedback we receive from amputees and others. Many prosthesis wearers come to us specifically because they are seeking a better connection to their prosthesis. They report that they feel very disconnected from their px, often stating it feels heavy, uncomfortable, inefficient, and unstable, resulting in a high risk and fear of falls. On the contrary, in our clinic and with our HiFi Licensees, we continue to document that most of our HiFi Prosthetic Interface wearers state their prosthesis feels like a part of them, feels significantly lighter, moves with them, and many report phantom sensations lost long ago now returning, allowing them to feel the ground, make quick adjustments and prevent falls. Some even forget they are wearing their prosthesis, the ultimate indication of device embodiment. I believe this to be the result of our High-Fidelity Interface’s emphasis on proper biomechanics, a term too often tossed around casually when referring to standard of care sockets with near total disregard for uncontrolled bone motion. Proper biomechanics is impossible if the primary mover is flailing about within the socket. With our patented and patents-pending osseostabilizing technology that was designed from its inception to control unwanted translation of the underlying bone shaft, we achieve a syncing of the prosthesis with skeletal motion. This synchronization in concert with a strongly activated fascial sensor network from targeted compression is a better match to the condition experienced prior to limb loss, allowing natural stimulation of the brain that is more representative of a sound limb. With skeletal control, the wearer can distance themselves from the artificiality of poorly connected prosthetic devices, allowing their brain to better “accept” this new condition and more fully incorporate it into the sense of self. In other words, get on with the business of living. While this is a great breakthrough in prosthetic technology, the limiting factor here is not our brain, as noted above, it instead is our industry’s reluctance to change, inability to break long established fitting habits (that yield subpar results), and refusal to acknowledge that perhaps the way we did things in the past was detrimental to our patients. My hope is to continue to work with those individuals, researchers, allied health professionals, etc., that continue to look forward – not backwards.

https://interestingengineering.com/human-brain-can-support-extra-robotic-body-part-third-thumb

Mar 04
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Alley Introduces the “Biotensegrity Bridge” for Human Device Interfacing

By Biodesigns, biomechanics, Food for thought, HiFi, Prosthetics, Socket Technology

In the March 2021 issue of the O&P Edge, Randall Alley, CEO and Head of User-Interface Technology, notes the issues with existing prosthetic socket designs and introduces a new model to consider for attachment, the Biotensegrity Bridge™, and describes how the patented and patents-pending HiFi Interface™ System creates a stable and functional “bridge” for attaching prosthetic devices.

“Since soft tissue (fascia) has a nonlinear stress/strain arrangement, traditionalists have incorrectly applied linear laws using levers and pulleys (mechanical physics) to explain the effects that the forces of gravity and tension elicit on our bodies. Biotensegrity has emerged as a new model of structural biology that is in diametric opposition to the Newtonian model of linear mechanical forces we all learned in school. Understanding the dynamic and continuous relationships between the soft tissue (fascia) and fluids within the body opens up new and exciting opportunities for better understanding the nature and role of the human-device interface,” stated Alley. “I give you what I am terming the Biotensegrity Bridge™ as a better way to approach interface integration.”

Read the full article: https://opedge.com/Articles/ViewArticle/2021-03-01/human-device-integration-introducing-the-biotensegrity-bridge

Mar 24
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biodesigns Delivers Advanced Arm During Corona Virus Outbreak

By Biodesigns, biomechanics, HiFi, Socket Technology, Upper Extremity

biodesigns, in California, best known for their prosthetic interface/socket technology, recently delivered an advanced arm system during this unusual time as a result of the Corona Virus. “We consider our business vital to our patients and want them to know we are here for them,” stated Randall Alley, CEO, Chief Prosthetist for biodesigns. The system delivered included advanced technology including Alley’s patented and patents-pending HiFi interface design, Coapt Engineering’s Gen2 Pattern Recognition, College Park’s Espire Powered Elbow, and Motion Control’s Wrist Rotator and External Terminal Device (ETD2). The system will also be used with the user’s existing ilimb Quantum hand. biodesigns takes great pride in designing prosthetic systems that are appropriate for their users. “This user is long time wearer that has proven time and time again the many functional benefits he receives from his prostheses,” stated Alley.

 

May 30
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Jason’s Bionic Arm – HiFi Interface, Coapt, LTI Elbow, I-Limb Hand

By Biodesigns, biomechanics, HiFi, ilimb, Myoelectric, Prosthetics, Socket Technology, Upper Extremity
“There is definitely a preconceived notion that a body-powered system is lighter, but with this HiFi socket it makes the arm feel just as light as body-powered. There is more stability across the entire length of the arm. There are no pinch points, way more degrees of freedom, more responsive, better connection to all the sensors.”

 

May 18
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Amputee Has Shocking Reaction to her Socket

By Biodesigns, biomechanics, BK, HiFi, Prosthetics, Socket Technology

Arlene, a below-knee amputee for almost 20 years, couldn’t believe the difference between her traditional socket and her new HiFi. With the HiFi, “it feels so much more natural. I don’t have to think about walking. That’s Amazing!”  In my old socket, it “feels like I’m going to go down. The knee is going to buckle. It’s a little scary.” Arlene shows the HiFi can help users of all ages. Everyone can benefit from HiFi’s ability to provide added stability and control.

Jan 12
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Biomechanical Design Considerations for Transradial Prosthetic Interface: A Review

By Biodesigns, biomechanics, HiFi, Prosthetics, Socket Technology, Upper Extremity
ABSTRACT. Traditional function and comfort assessment of transradial prostheses pay scant attention to prosthetic interface. With better understanding of the biomechanics of prosthetic interface comes better efficiency and safety for interface design; in this way, amputees are more likely to accept prosthetic usage. This review attempts to provide design and selection criteria of transradial interface for prosthetists and clinicians. Various transradial socket types in the literature were chronologically reviewed. Biomechanical discussion of transradial prosthetic interface design from an engineering point of view was also done. Suspension control, range of motion, stability, as well as comfort and safety of socket designs have been considered in varying degrees in the literature. The human–machine interface design should change from traditional “socket design” to new “interface design.” From anatomy and physiology to biomechanics of the transradial residual limb, the force and motion transfer, together with comfort and safety, are the two main aspects in prosthetic interface design. Load distribution and transmission should mainly rely on achieving additional skeletal control through targeted soft tissue relief. Biomechanics of the residual limb soft tissues should be studied to find the relationship between mechanical properties and the comfort and safety of soft tissues.
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