Browsing by Subject "amputees"

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    A COMPARISON OF UPPER LIMB AMPUTEES AND PATIENTS WITH UPPER LIMB INJURIES USING THE DISABILITY OF THE ARM, SHOULDER AND HAND (DASH).
    (2005) Davidson, Judith
    Amputation of a limb represents a catastrophe for the adult amputee and their family. However data regarding the prosthetic, functional and psychological outcomes achieved by these patients is limited. There is no well recognised outcome measure used throughout Australia, UK or America especially for aquired adult amputations of the upper limb. Most scales currently in use fail to identify the psychological adjustment problems which many of these amputees demonstrate. Many adult amputees continue to report significant behavioural limitations and discomfort, associated with low self-esteem, anxiety and depression when compared with an able-bodied control sample.(1) Phantom limb phenomena is also a well recognised problem for many upper limb amputees . Scales used to measure prosthetic use rarely investigate the impact pain has on the amputee and his or her well being. The Disability of the Arm Shoulder and Hand Scale (DASH) is an evaluative outcome measure for patients with upper extremity musculoskeletal conditions designed in the mid 1990s by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and Toronto Institute for Work and Health. (2,3,4) It is a region specific questionnaire as opposed to diagnosis specific questionnaire. It measures function & symptoms of musculo-skeletal disorders in upper limb. The DASH was able to demonstrate change in all situations in which change was presumed to have occurred. The DASH was found to have comparable responsiveness to the joint specific measures. It demonstrated suitable levels of sensitivity and specificity.
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    MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCHING OPTION FOR THE HIGHER LEVEL UPPER LIMB AMPUTEE
    (2005) Mikosz, Matthew J.
    The purpose of this article is to describe an alternative switching option for the higher-level upper limb amputee. Currently available body powered switches allow for only one function which can become quite cumbersome when multiple control methods are used. A multi-functional switch that can activate many different controls either independently or simultaneously could greatly reduce the amount of hardware required to operate all of these devices. When working with bilateral shoulder or interscapulothoracic amputees one of the main goals is to provide as much function as possible while maintaining simplicity in the design. The first patient that was fit with the actuator was currently wearing bilateral shoulder prostheses with seven switches. The result was a reduction in the amount of switches necessary to operate the different controls from seven to two. The switch can also be configured to operate Force Sensing Resistors (FSR’s) or linear transducers to provide proportional control.
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    SILICONE BLADDER SUSPENSION FOR THE WRIST DISARTICULATION LEVEL AMPUTEE USING A MINI PUMP SYSTEM TO ALTER VOLUMETRIC PRESSURE INSIDE THE SOCKET
    (2005) Mikosz, Matthew J.
    The purpose of this article is to describe an alternative fitting technique for the wrist disarticulation amputee. The socket design utilizes a silicone bladder contained in a sealed chamber with a one-way expulsion valve and built in mini pump. This design allows the volumetric pressure inside the socket to be controlled by the amount of air inside the chamber. Once the limb is positioned inside of the socket, the pump can be used to fill the chamber with air and apply controlled volumetric pressure throughout the entire length of the flexible bladder. The pump can also be configured to expand the bladder, and then the one-way release valve can be depressed to the appropriate level of compression. The two patients that have been fit with this system stated improved comfort and optimized suspension. This system provides the patient with the ability to alter the socket fit according to the desired activity.