Optimus Prosthetics
News and Notes for MEDICAL PROFESSIONALSFebruary 2011
In This Issue
Laminated Socket Designs
World's First Prosthetic Limb
Optimus Academy Update
Our Calendar  
 

Completing the

first course

'Prosthetic Overview'

this month:

 

2/03/2011

12:00 pm
Mercy Siena 

  

2/08/2011

12:00 pm

Riverside


  Completing the fifth course 'Prosthetic Gait Training and Deviations' this month:

 

2/10/2011

12:00 pm

Sycamore Glen 


 2/14/2011

8:00 am

Troy Care and Rehab 

 

2/16/2011

12:15 pm

Heartland of Springboro  

   

2/23/2011

12:00 pm

Brookhaven

 

2/25/2011

12:00 pm

Heartland of Miamisburg

 

Would you like to schedule a course?

Call the office at 937-454-1900

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The American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics.
 
ABC

ABC is the national certifying and accrediting body for the orthotic and prosthetic professions. The public requires and deserves assurance that the persons providing orthotic, prosthetic, and pedorthic services and care are qualified to provide the appropriate services.

Greetings!

It's been an interesting few weeks in Dayton, Ohio, with all of the snow, ice, and cold temperatures!  And yet, through it all, construction at Optimus Prosthetics has continued.  We are very close to moving into our new space, and look forward to showing off the results in the next eNewsletter.  In the meantime, feel free to stop by any time for a personal tour!

 

If you've got any suggestions, compliments or feedback - we'd love to hear it!  Call us at 937-454-1900 or click here to send us an email!

Sincerely,

John Brand_Scott Schall
Optimus Prosthetics * 8517 N. Dixie Drive * Suite 300 * Dayton OH 45414   
PS - Missed an issue?
Click here to view the Optimus Online archives

Laminated Socket Designs - A Form of Expression for Many Optimus Patients

 

Every prosthetist knows that the socket interface - the part of the prosthesis that actually attaches to the body - is the most important of all the components.  As Tim Riedlinger, CPO, LPO, and clinical manager of Optimus Prosthetics explains:  "The socket design and fit is very significant in  how an amputated limb is "housed" within a socket so that a patient could do more with less discomfort for longer periods of time.   Here at Optimus, we concentrate very much on this concept of assuring a very intimate fitting socket  to allow our  clients more control of socket rotation and suspension, as well as increased  comfort and prolonged usage of their

Socket 1

prosthesis over the course of a day."

 

However, for many patients at Optimus Prosthetics, it's much more than that.  Most sockets are finished in a flesh-tone, matched as closely to the patient's own skin color as possible like the one shown here.

 

Lab Technician, Lynda Craft encourages patients to bring in a personalized design, which she laminates directly onto the socket, giving it a unique and personalized finish.

 

"I can use pretty much any material, as long as it doesn't puncture, like silk would," Lynda explains.  "Cotton is the best.  Typically, patients will bring in remnants from a fabric store, or a t-shirt with a cool design on it."   

 

Lynda has seen sports fans put their team's logo on their socket, and a grandfather use a picture of his grandkids.  There was even one patient who lost his leg due to a motorcycle accident.  He chose to put the t-shirt he was wearing in that accident right onto his socket.  How's that for triumph over tragedy?

 

Socket gallery

 

"I love when patients choose to use a cool design," Lynda says.  "It's an expression of who they are and gives them more of an emotional connection to their socket - and through the socket, I feel more of a connection to the patient."

Robbie
Robbie Redcross, BK amputee and Harley Davidson enthusiast
John Yost
Optimus Prosthetics patient, John Yost with granddaughter
Ellie
Optimus Lab Manager, and Wisconsin Native, Ellie Thompson

What's the best part of laminating a unique design?  Lynda says, "When a patient first sees it, and they love it.  Their face lights up, and instead of focusing on their amputation, or what they've lost - the focus is on this amazing, unique design.  I love that!"

Lynda
Lab Technician, Lynda Craft

World's First Prosthetic Limb Found on 3,000 year-old Egyptian Mummy 

 

By JAMES TOZER
27th July 2007
Daily Mail

The false toe worn by a 3,000-year-old mummy has always been regarded as a simple ornament, added after death as part of burial rites. But British scientists who have studied it believe the reality is that it is the world's first working artificial body part, centuries older than anything previously found.

Egyptian toe

 

A false toe made of out of wood and leather was found on a 3,000-year-old mummified body of an Egyptian noblewoman.  Now they are looking for volunteers who are missing the big toe on their right foot to wear a replica and try out their theory.  The original prosthetic, made out of wood and leather, is strapped to the foot of the mummified body of an Egyptian noblewoman currently on display at a museum in Cairo. A similar false toe is worn by another mummy at the British Museum, but it has always been thought they were fitted after death as part of burial rites, perhaps to help them get about in the afterlife.   

 

But a British Egyptologist who has examined both believes they were actually expertly fashioned to help their wearers get about and overcome their missing digit while they were still alive.   

 

Read the rest here. 

Optimus Academy 'Prosthetics for Therapists' Update
by Scott Schall  

 

We are well into the 5th course, 'Prosthetic Gait Training and Deviations'.  Schedule your course today!

 

Optimus Academy is pleased to welcome Mercy Siena to the list of therapy groups participating in our Prosthetics for Therapists courses. 


Quarterly Course Listing

  1. Prosthetic Overview
  2. Transtibial Prosthetics
  3. Transfemoral Prosthetics
  4. Amputee Mobility Predictor
  5. Prosthetic Gait Training and Deviations
  6. Partial Foot / Symes / Knee Disarticulation / Hip Disarticulation
  7. Upper Extremity Prosthetics
  8. Computer Alignment System (COMPAS)
  9. Microprocessor-Controlled Knees

Call the office at 937-454-1900

New staff photo At Optimus, we're here for you!

Click here to email us or call the office at 937-454-1900