VA CLIMB Center Seattle, WA

Wildman

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Howdy all,
Well I had my first appointment with the CLIMB center today for the next two studies I am going to be participating in. It was a good day other than the SHITTY traffic coming back over I-90 with all the weekend Friday traffic.

https://www.amputation.research.va.gov/
So the first study I am going to be doing is one that is very interesting to me and I hope to gather some information and ideas from it.
This study is trying out some different types of liners that will help me not sweat. When wearing your prosthetic in hot weather you can end up sweating a LOT depending on what you are doing. I've had to take my liner off 3-4 times in a day and had to dump the sweat out of my liner. I would get about a tea spoon worth of sweat each time. The bad parts of this is that due to this you can develop a rash or other skin irritations that can not allow you to wear a liner & your prosthetic.
So they are working on different ways to cool the liner. I'm going to be testing out 3 different systems they are working with and will be bringing them home to trial for 2 weeks at a time. So I am really excited about this.

The second study I am involved with will have me carrying weight while wearing different currently available feet to see how this affects my ability to walk in a normal fashion. They will be putting 30 lbs on me in 4 positions. Front/Back/Left/Right and have sensors and monitors on my body as I walk to see how using each different foot affects how I am able to walk.
This gives me a chance to try out different feet that I might not have worn before and allows me to give input to assist future amputees in being fitted with the correct foot. I'll try to get pictures as I am doing this to post up.
 
Very cool (pun intended)!


It would be nice to see portable cooling eventually. That would be pretty awesome and helpful.
 
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That’s awesome! The tech that is involved in prosthetics now is amazing. Looking forward to your reporting/pictures!
 
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Headed back to the VA for the day. Not sure what if any KEWL stuff I get to play with today if any. Just hope the traffic is better today than it was Friday.

Hope everyone has a good day.
 
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Back from the VA.

Had a good day and got a lot done. So they trial fitted me with all the different feet I'll wear for the weight bearing study which was fun because I got to test out 5 different feet. One of them I've worm before but the last time I wore it was in 2018/2019 but about 6-9 months after my amputation. This is the Ottobock EmPower which is the only powered electronic foot on the market currently.
It is heavy and I didn't like it much the last time I tested it. Since my leg muscles are stronger now than they were back then I didn't notice the weight as much now.

Then I got cast for the 2 custom sockets & 1 custom liner I'll be wearing for the cooled liner study. So I'm moving along with both studies and go back in about 8 days for my next appointment.
 
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So it's been a busy summer for me with the VA. I have done 2 different studies that really didn't have any pictures worth posting.

But today I picked up a cooled socket that is high speed.
It has a vacuum pump on the bottom that is either powered by me walking or a battery when standing still.

20210930_142409.jpg


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The vacuum pump isn't anything special and they make them for sockets in a vacuum sealed to retain the socket to the leg.

But this application uses the vacuum to draw air through the socket to help cool it. I'm wearing it for 2 weeks and then go back to the VA for more testing.
 
So it's been a busy summer for me with the VA. I have done 2 different studies that really didn't have any pictures worth posting.

But today I picked up a cooled socket that is high speed.
It has a vacuum pump on the bottom that is either powered by me walking or a battery when standing still.

View attachment 280530

View attachment 280531

View attachment 280532

The vacuum pump isn't anything special and they make them for sockets in a vacuum sealed to retain the socket to the leg.

But this application uses the vacuum to draw air through the socket to help cool it. I'm wearing it for 2 weeks and then go back to the VA for more testing.
That's pretty tits, what's with the cloth and the little cube-looking contraption sticking up below the knee area?
 
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That's pretty tits, what's with the cloth and the little cube-looking contraption sticking up below the knee area?
The cloth covers the vacuum hoses and wires. The little cube thing is a rechargeable 9V battery. It is what powers the vacuum pump when I'm not walking. And I guess I should say I don't have to technically be walking. Standing and applying pressure makes the vacuum pump work also.
 
So the action of you walking - is everything electrical? Like when you take a step it generates electricity to power an electrical vacuum pump or is there a purely mechanical function that pumps air through the device?
 
So the action of you walking - is everything electrical? Like when you take a step it generates electricity to power an electrical vacuum pump or is there a purely mechanical function that pumps air through the device?

The pump is a mechanical vacuum pump that has the battery to power it when not being pumped mechanically. I hope that makes sense.

There are multiple ways to retain a socket on your leg. One is the pin lock like I'm using now.

Another is what they call a suspension sleeve which is what I had when I had my amputation. It uses a sleeve around the top of the socket to seal it around the leg.

Then the next way is a vacuum pump. This is called a vacuum retention system. It uses a vacuum pump powered by your walking. This is more or less what I have now but the vacuum pump is used to draw air through the socket instead of to retain it to the leg. They've just figured out a way to power it with a battery when there is no mechanical action.

This isn't a system that is available yet. I'm helping test it out at this point.

The next part of this study I'll be wearing a perforated liner that let's air flow through it. Their trying to find ways to make wearing a prosthetic more comfortable.
 
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The pump is a mechanical vacuum pump that has the battery to power it when not being pumped mechanically. I hope that makes sense.

There are multiple ways to retain a socket on your leg. One is the pin lock like I'm using now.

Another is what they call a suspension sleeve which is what I had when I had my amputation. It uses a sleeve around the top of the socket to seal it around the leg.

Then the next way is a vacuum pump. This is called a vacuum retention system. It uses a vacuum pump powered by your walking. This is more or less what I have now but the vacuum pump is used to draw air through the socket instead of to retain it to the leg. They've just figured out a way to power it with a battery when there is no mechanical action.

This isn't a system that is available yet. I'm helping test it out at this point.

The next part of this study I'll be wearing a perforated liner that let's air flow through it. Their trying to find ways to make wearing a prosthetic more comfortable.
Gotcha, so walking around just moves something mechanically to draw a vacuum like a hand held pump... But if you're sitting still then you can turn on an electric pump.. Any concerns with having that battery compartment right there on the front instead of integrated into the body of the prosthetic? Or is this just like a proof of concept vs. proof of form?
 
Gotcha, so walking around just moves something mechanically to draw a vacuum like a hand held pump... But if you're sitting still then you can turn on an electric pump.. Any concerns with having that battery compartment right there on the front instead of integrated into the body of the prosthetic? Or is this just like a proof of concept vs. proof of form?

The electrical part senses when there isn't vacuum and then comes on for about 10-20 seconds. Once there is vacuum it shuts off. Depending on how much you are walking or standing on it they say the battery can last 1-2 weeks. So it's not running for a very long time.
This is just a proof of concept type thing at this time. I don't know how far along they are in the development stage but I know this is a fairly new concept. When I go back in 2 weeks they'll be having me walk for 30 minutes on a treadmill in a enclosed room where they have the temps at 95* and 95% humidity. I'm downloading some pictures of the pump right now.
 
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