Glennie Cox
Right BK Amputee

"I feel very comfortable with Mr. Lyons. Over the past two and a half years he has helped me with my prosthesis. Since coming to see him, I have been able to stop the use of my cane and can now walk without one. I recommend Lyons Prosthetics to every one."

 

As you know, amputees are being refused the insurance benefits that they need to live active and productive lives.  Coverage is variable and inadequate to meet individual needs.  The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) is committed to tackling these issues head on through legislative remedies as well as playing a role in the larger debate around health care reform.

REGISTER HERE

 

Recently Alexander Lyons, CPO and Trent Bowers from Otto Bock teamed up to teach a two part course where the first part of the course covered new orthotic designs and the second part covered new advances in microprocessor knees.

The course was held at the Waccamaw Hospital Rehabilitation Facility and was designed to address new research centered around proprioception and proprioceptive stretch reflexes. Continuing sections of this study are scheduled to be presented in the near future.

"Wii rehab might sound like radical intervention for video game addicts, but it's actually effective physical therapy for patients recovering from strokes, injuries, or surgeries. Otherwise tedious strength and coordination exercises go by a little easier if they involve waving a wireless controller to play virtual bowling, tennis, and golf. But it doesn't stop there. The next step in video game rehab is "Air Guitar Hero," which would allow amputees to rock out with the immensely popular Guitar Hero game using a mechanical arm wired to their chest muscles.

As part of a DARPA initiative for prosthetics research, scientists are now able to reroute the nerves that once controlled an amputee's arm to the chest muscles, where electrodes can then pick up the electromyographic signals to control a mechanical arm. But the process of learning how to accurately control a prosthetic arm, not to mention individual fingers, using only twitches of the chest, can be a slow and discouraging one. So researchers at Johns Hopkins University hacked a Guitar Hero controller so that its color-coded frets could be controlled with signals from the electrodes.

They tested the Air Guitar Hero system on Iraq veteran Jon Kuniholm, who lost his right hand three years ago. With electrodes attached to what was left of his arm and a little practice, Kuniholm was able to score a respectable 70 percent on the easy level. 'You're doing something simple,' he says. 'It's not rocket science. But you have to do it fast and you have to time it right.'

Next, the researchers say they want to adapt Wii Tennis to prosthetic training. Eventually they hope to make their software open source so that people can repurpose other games for rehabilitation."

Berkeley Bionics™ designs and manufactures lower extremity exoskeletons to augment human strength and endurance during locomotion.

Click on the picture to watch this amazing video!

The exoskeleton is comprised of two powered anthropomorphic legs, a power unit, small on-board microcomputer, and a backpack-like frame on which a variety of heavy loads can be mounted. This system provides its pilot (wearer) with the ability to carry up to 150 pounds on his/her back with minimal effort over any type of terrain for extended periods of time without reducing his/her agility.

Exoskeleton Orthotic Systems for Individuals with Mobility Disorder