From Bench to Bedside: A Perfect Fit? Osseointegration Can Improve Function for Patients with Amputations

Excerpt

The first patent for a suction socket for patients with lower limb amputations in the United States was filed during the Civil War [5]. Subsequently, numerous advances in prostheses and surgical techniques have dramatically improved the functional potential of many patients with limb loss. Unfortunately, while the materials used have evolved, many basic fitting techniques and socket-design principles have not changed for decades. Therefore, the primary patient-prosthesis interface—the socket—has not kept pace with the new surgical techniques or the microprocessors, sensors, and motors that have enabled these recent advances. As such, amputation socket-related problems ranging from ulceration, folliculitis, malodor, sweating, and loss of suspension, discomfort and pain—all of which can dramatically decrease patient function and satisfaction—persist largely unmitigated. …