Amputee Life — Prosthetic Issues

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) developed a prosthetic socket fit sensor that identifies pressure points within a socket. As of this writing, the technology is patented and is available via patent license agreement to prosthetic companies that would make or sell the device commercially.

A team of researchers from the Virginia Tech College of Engineering are working on a solution to the volume issue, thanks to a $400,000 research grant from the National Science Foundation in late 2019. For three years, the team will dedicate their time to the study of volume loss and eventually develop smart prosthetic sockets to improve comfort and prosthetic performance.  

Most prosthesis users—especially lower-limb amputees—complain that the volume of their residual limb diminishes throughout the day. In fact, by the time lunch rolls around, adding another prosthetic sock is common. Ottobock offers a solution to this problem by creating a system that actively manages residual limb volume.

One of the most common complaints of lower-limb prosthetic users is that their prosthetic socket is uncomfortable. It’s a good thing that researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found a way to personalize prosthetic sockets through FitSocket. 

Most people are used to offering their opinions without understanding what the situation is like for others. So, when we received a question from a reader about what to do when his wife told him not to take his leg off in public, the initial reaction was exasperation. How could this insensitive comment come from someone close to him?