Artificial Leg for an Active Engineer

there has to be some mobility/movement on the prosthesis, if he's riding.

If your not sitting square in the saddle, other parts of your body will grind down to make up for the lack of movement. Such as your back.

But you did give good advice for him to ask himself. For and active person, and having the background he can come up with points that he needs. such as degree of mobility, and move on to the basic mechanisms and restraints.

If the op could share this, I'm sure there will be more ideas thrown around.

phoenix911

Hi...please try the Jaipur Leg. This organosation holds camps outside India as well to help persons.

The Jaipur leg is a rubber-based prosthetic leg for people with below-knee amputations, produced under guidance of Dr. P. K . Sethi by Masterji Ram Chander in 1969 for victims of landmine explosions. Designed in, and named for Jaipur, India; the prosthetic leg was designed to be inexpensive, quick to fit and manufacture, and to be water-resistant. The jaipur foot is fitted free of cost by Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahyata Samiti, founded by Devendra Raj Mehta. It costs approximately U.S. $40. Dow India supports Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahayta Samiti with polyurethene which is the new material used in the production of the prostheses. The new material increases the durability and the convenience of the leg. Dow India also supports BMVSS with financial assistance to carry on the work done by the non government organization.

or visit thier web site www.jaipurfoot.org

Yes, this is right place to fix artificial limbs. They have fixed many limbs in past for Army soldiers and civilians. Their charges are also very reasonable.

Helimech

I have been a BK amputee for the last 22 years and have recently gotten an Ossur Rheo knee. It has changed my life in terms of what it is capqable of. Please refer to their website

http://www.ossur.com/?pageid=2743

Please contack me on kobus@andula.co.za if you need more information.

Good luck

Kobus Thiart

South Africa

I recently saw an interview with a guy who, like you, was very sporty. He had a selection of legs tuned to his different activities, one for cycling, one for running etc. Should you be thinking along those lines instead of trying to find one general purpose device which will have to be a compromise?

I'd suggest an exchangeable knee socket....something that pops off from say, the upper fitting, and has utilitarian uses depending on the environment where your leg finds itself.

Try this site.

http://www.ossur.com/

Simply the best .

Best wishes, Skafi.

Try striker med product. The same joint for knee replacement should work for you if you can buy it as a piece part.

I am admittedly not an expert, but I was reminded of the recent Olympics:

"Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter, has been denied a shot at the Olympics... for being too fast. The runner -- who uses carbon-fiber, prosthetic feet -- was reviewed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (or IAAF), a review which found the combination of man and machine to be too much for its purely human competitors. According to the IAAF report, the "mechanical advantage of the blade in relation to the healthy ankle joint of an able bodied athlete is higher than 30-percent." Additionally, Pistorius uses 25-percent less energy than average runners due to the artificial limbs, therefore giving him an unfair advantage on the track."

I don't know much about this "blade" limb, but it ought to be worth considering at least.

It's like Rorschach said.....the guy was born without lower limbs. Amputees who've had to get used to the stump not hurting, proper fitting, phantom pains and I imagine a lengthy list of complications face quite another dilemna.

Look for it at this site: http://www.ossur.com/

Ossur is the manufacturer of these artificial limbs.

Skafi.

Applied Composite Technology (ACT) in Gunnison Utah, the medical device branch of Christensen Arms has some very good products that I think will work very well for you. appliedcompositetechnology

If you were in the states I would suggest that you see my cousin Dennis Clark. He has been designing prosthetics's his whole life. His father had a small traveling practice in Iowa. I'm sure he would be more the happy to help you with any suggestions that he might have if you were to contact him. His web site is http://www.clarkprosthetics.com/staff.asp.

You can tell him that David Steward suggested you contact him. I'm sure he can help you find what you need to maintain your active life style.

Good luck

I've heard very good things about Otto Bock's C-leg. Not being an amputee myself, I really can't comment from first hand (or leg) experience but I am led to believe it is the standard by which all other prosthetics are compared to. I've seen people playing sports like basketball with them. They are designed with accelerometers, servos and microprocessors to minimize lost motion in your gait and to maintain balance. The upshot is that you don't feel like you've been running a marathon when you take them off at the end of the day. These are the prosthetics that the VA supplies to wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the subject of Pisstorus the sprinter. His carbon fiber prosthetics are specifically designed for running and would not serve as every day prosthetics. He uses C-legs the rest of the time I believe. Technically he is not an amputee, he was born without lower legs. So while he is functionally an AK amputee, he does not have the scar tissue from actual amputation.

I am functionally deaf after being hearing most of my life and can sympathize with you on the loss of a bodily function. Sounds like you have your head screwed on straight with a right hand thread and are approaching the "fact" with the right attitude.

If I were in your shoes and wanted to think outside the box (I have no idea what in the box is, may become apparent.) I would think in terms of titanium as the material and would definitely include a knee and would include some sort of a lock out device, maybe activated by a shoulder shrug. Might help when you clean and jerk your body weight.

I too recently lost most of the hearing in one ear due to Sensorineural hearing loss.

It has been a bit of an adjustment.

The 1st thing I'd try is the VA (Veteran's Administration) and / or the Walter Reed Army Medical Center for info and up-to-date availability and contacts of prothetic legs. They should be the most up-to-date.

A couple problems there mate.

First he's in Austrailia, not the USA. Second he didn't say that he was injured in war. He could have lost his leg to a farm implement or a car wreck or something like that. Or it could have been amputated due to bone cancer or gangrene too. He didn't say HOW he lost his leg.

The following link is a newspaper article featuring an employee at our minesite who recently received an artificial C-leg (as mentioned in the previous forum posts by Rorschach).

http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/index.cfm?sid=56929&sc=15

Yes;I really appreciate your spirit and ready to help.Recently in Sri Lanka A young inventor created a very promising artifial leg and started a factory with the government assistance without giving away the design/patent for huge money.

I will find the contact detail and tell you ASAP.

Could you give more input about your actual prothetic leg? Indicate where the weak zones are and what kind of wear you noticed? Analysing the actual situation which was conceived for other loads and frequencies of loading different from what you apply upon it could be possible to give you solutions for a better behaviour and a longer life.

I lost my leg in Iraq, nothing compares to the C-leg!!

For snowboarding I use the XT-9.

I tried a Rheo but kept falling down the stairs... if you don't use a C-leg first you might not have problems with the Rheo, but I'm going back to the C-leg now that I have approval from the VA.

I am VERY active with my AK amputation, on my feet all the time. Not sure how things would go on horseback though, haven't tried it.

Just came across your request. I have a artificial leg for sale. I don't have a asking price. It was made for an above the knee amputee, he was about 5'6", not sure if this would work for you, or if you're interested in purchasing a used prosthetic leg. If so I can send a pic, oh, He never used it because his leg was cut too far.