New Foot Study

@qslim here are pictures of the prosthetic foot that I was wearing for the study I linked above.

This is where all the magic is happening.

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COOL part to me was that he's using RC car batteries to power this.

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And the circuit boards inside that make things happen.

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With the shell removed you can see the sensors that feel the foot strike and the pivot the foot left or right as needed.

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It weighs about 6-8 lbs so it's fun walking around with it.

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And a short video of me walking in a circle with it.

 
That's tits. How did it feel? Forget about the weight, you're validating the behavior of the machine at this point so if something like this ever made it into production all that shit'll be miniaturized.
 
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It's absolutely amazing to see the advances that have been made. Glad you are able to contribute in a way that matters to others! 🇺🇸

Rich
 
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That's tits. How did it feel? Forget about the weight, you're validating the behavior of the machine at this point so if something like this ever made it into production all that shit'll be miniaturized.

Yes. If he was able to bring this to market it would be based on the middle of the spectrum of data gathered and only have one setting. But this would be the most popular setting from all the test subjects. They will be asking me to come back for a phase two of the study but he didn't have a clue when that would be.

If you notice all those little balls stuck on me they are for the IR camera's (16) total in the room. And it generates a stick figure walking/moving on the computer screen.
I walked clockwise and counter-clockwise in that circle and they have plates in the floor that measure the pressure of my foot strike.
It's all really KEWL and these people doing the studies are great to work with.

It's absolutely amazing to see the advances that have been made. Glad you are able to contribute in a way that matters to others! 🇺🇸

Rich

Thanks Rick. I truely am glad to be able to give back and hope some of these studies will bring new and innovative products to the market. Helping other amputees to be able to lead a better life is the whole goal.
 
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Well not part of a foot study but I had an appointment on Wednesday at the VA amputee clinic and while I was there I'd asked them about getting to trial a different foot and after talking with the doctors and explaining why I wanted to try this foot out they approved it. So I contacted my prosthetist yesterday and he's getting in contact with the vendor. With prosthetic feet they allow a person to "TEST" them out for 45-60 days to see if you like it.

https://www.blatchfordus.com/products/bladext/

This is a active foot or sport foot as they call it. I'm EXCITED to test it out.


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Way back in the day (1977) I was studying bio-medical engineering and was asked to work on a project for NIH, funded by the US Commerce department. They wanted to know if it was more cost effective to fund research for a 'bionic' foot or buy a wheelchair. You must remember that at that time, the smallest computers were the size of a microwave oven and had, by today's standards, very little processing power. The biggest hitch was the "drop kick reflex", which is something your ankle and foot do automatically with every step. Just as the back foot pushes off, it automatically lifts the toe end of the foot to prevent it dragging on the ground. The results of my study were that it was not economically feasible to develop a replacement foot at that time, due to the nonavailability of required technology. Remember, this was funded by the Commerce department. They ended up buying thousands of wheel chairs for the VA and other charitable organizations.
I'm glad to see that newer tech has made a big difference in this area.
 
With the cost of prosthetics it would still be a LOT cheaper to give someone a wheelchair even if you're talking about one of the super light weight units.
My Ossur Pro-Flex Pivot foot has a MSRP of $20K and that doesn't include the cost of the socket or the other parts associated with the construction of a prosthetic.

But yes they have come a LONG way since the 70's. Heck back then all you had was a wool sock to protect your limb. The gel liner has only been around since around 2000 and it was a game changer. The issue now with micro-processor feet is that the weigh a LOT and are not robust enough for active users. They are GREAT if you are someone who lives in the city and aren't in extreme environments but if you're active or do things where you're picking up heavy items you'll break one in no time. And their battery life is maybe 4 hours and you have to carry spares.
 
It looks like the spring rebound from the curve causes the flatter portion to raise high enough to avoid tripping when you walk. Brilliant! No electronics, no batteries, and, I assume, reasonable price. Congrats!
 
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It looks like the spring rebound from the curve causes the flatter portion to raise high enough to avoid tripping when you walk. Brilliant! No electronics, no batteries, and, I assume, reasonable price. Congrats!
Yes, the energy storage is nice and it helps when walking. By pushing off as you step there is less energy required for a normal walking step. They calculate it requires about 30% more energy for a amputee to walk for each joint missing.
This prosthetic foot costs about 1/4 what my current foot costs. The Pro-Pivot foot I currently have has a MRSP of $20k and this Edolite is about $4800.
 
Something I always do when I get a new foot to try out is that I'll weigh it to see how it compares to my current setup. The Blade XT is the lightest prosthetic I've ever tried to date.

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And then without the socket on.

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And my current prosthetic (Ossur Pro Pivot) and the boot. 2lbs 2oz is a lot of weight to be shedding. Remember that this is at the bottom of my leg so I'm swinging that weight. It's like you putting a 2.5lb ankle weight on and walking around all day.

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And then without the socket on my normal foot.

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I got my quick change adapter for my sport foot today. Makes it really nice to swap out my Pro-Pivot and the Blade XT between my everyday socket.
You've got the female side of the adapter on the foot.

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And then the male part is inserted into the female side.

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And then it has this lock pin that screws into it.


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I got my quick change adapter for my sport foot today. Makes it really nice to swap out my Pro-Pivot and the Blade XT between my everyday socket.
You've got the female side of the adapter on the foot.

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And then the male part is inserted into the female side.

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And then it has this lock pin that screws into it.


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You shouldn't say male and female now, probably need to say innie and outie.
 
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I had to go into see my prosthesis today to get cast for a new socket. My old socket isn't fitting properly anymore and due to it not fitting correctly I ended up bruising my leg bad enough I'd ended up having to take a total of about 25 days off and not wear my socket. The first time around I was off my feet for 15 days and thought it had healed up but then rebruised it and have been off my feet now for 9 days.

The machine they use to cast with is called the Symphonie Aqua Casting machine.

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Then the prosthesis puts a plastic bag over the liner and makes his drawings on it. The drawings locate where the knee cap is plus any other bumps or other spots on the leg.

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Then casting material is put onto the leg over the liner & plastic bags.

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Then wrap it with some more casting material.


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Bag it again on the outside

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Then stand in the casting machine. What's COOL about this device is the it uses water & air pressure to load the leg 360* while making the cast of the leg.

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Once the plaster/casting material is dried you step back out of the casting machine.

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And then the cast of your leg is removed.

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And the markings have transferred into the inside of the cast.

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I'll be picking up my check/test socket next Thursday. I'll wear it for about 2-3 weeks while making adjustments to it until it fits as perfect as possible. Then the prosthesis will take it back and make a mold from it to make the new sockets.

Now I've just got to work on my designs for the wrap of the sockets.
 
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Part of what's KEWL about this casting machine is that I'm putting 75% of my weight onto my right leg. This way as it's casting my leg it is like when I'm actually standing/walking on it which changes the dynamics of how your leg looks. Them making a cast when my leg is in a static position doesn't give the same definition so then it takes longer for them to get the check/test socket fitting correctly.
 
Picked up my check/test socket today. Learned a few things. Over the past two weeks my leg has shrank even more which is interesting just because unless I was losing weight or something like that this shouldn't be happening.
Because of the shape of my leg when the last socket was made this socket can't be made to NOT bruise the bottom front of my leg. I don't know if you can see it but here are the two sockets side by side.

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This circled area is where the bottom front of my leg ls contacting the old socket. You can see how the new socket is shaped differently towards the bottom.

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So right now I'm off my leg again for 2-3 days hopefully while I wait for the bruising to go away. But this new socket sure fits a LOT better than my old one.


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It's kind of hard to see the difference and not sure how to capture it with a camera.

Don't look like much but it's bruised.

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Ok please advise me, for years my right foot has been bad and recently horrible. I am a strength trainer and landscaper. I also hunt and fish. Right now the bones in my foot won’t heal and continue to shift. I have been seriously contemplating mid foot amputation but the doc says the benefits don’t outweigh the cost. I just want to live my life. It’s been a long year. My question is how is it living with prosthesis? Driving, walking and activity. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal w this and thank you so much for your service, both my sons are Army
 
Ok please advise me, for years my right foot has been bad and recently horrible. I am a strength trainer and landscaper. I also hunt and fish. Right now the bones in my foot won’t heal and continue to shift. I have been seriously contemplating mid foot amputation but the doc says the benefits don’t outweigh the cost. I just want to live my life. It’s been a long year. My question is how is it living with prosthesis? Driving, walking and activity. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal w this and thank you so much for your service, both my sons are Army

I can't advise you on cost since all my stuff is thru the VA but I do almost everything I could do prior to my amputation. Yes you have to learn how to do some things differently but it really isn't hard. Other than issues like this where the socket doesn't fit correctly I've been going strong and hard for 4 years since my amputation. I try to now let things slow me down.

I drive an automatic and gas with my right and brake with my left. You can drive a stick it just take some practice since you can't feel that transfer from gas to brake anymore.

I talk more about stuff in this thread

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/alive-day.42016/