New alignment device helps fit prosthetic limbs better

He is trying a computer-based device that provides quantitative information to support his subjective assessment. The device attaches to the prosthetic limb and wirelessly beams information on the twisting of the limb as the patient walks,along with other data,to his computer for analysis.

Steele has been trying the system,called Compas — short for Computerized Prosthesis Alignment System — not only on his patients,but also on himself. A software program that is part of the system interprets data collected as a patient walks; it then suggests adjustments.

“It’s good to have the background readings from the computer,” he said. “It gives me another tool to narrow down what is causing a problem.” The new technology may be especially timely,given the large number of returning military veterans who need prostheses.

Compas,a product of Orthocare Innovations of Oklahoma City,was developed in part with financing from the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.

Dr Alberto Esquenazi,director of the gait and motion analysis laboratory at MossRehab in Elkins Park,says the Compas is part of a new generation of tools that provide objective alignment assessments. “It is an innovative approach,a real departure from what has been done in the past,” he said.

Treva Monteith,a nurse in Yukon,has been wearing a Compas plate in her prosthesis since March. The system has saved a lot of time and effort,she said. In an earlier series of fittings,she said,“I had to go in for visits,then go home and walk,then call up,and say,‘This isn’t right’.”