 "Photo: Courtesy of Joe Horne")
A Newark company is one of the first in the nation to offer a new, motorized prosthetic foot designed to give amputees greater mobility than ever before.
The Proprio Foot, a new prosthesis designed by the global orthopedic company, Ossur, is revolutionizing the capabilities of amputees.
Beverly Milson, spokeswoman for Ossur, said the Proprio Foot is the first motorized and artificially intelligent prosthetic foot ever to be made.
"All prosthetics before have been passive," Milson said. "The Proprio Foot helps the amputee by lifting and lowering the foot."
John Horne, owner of Independence Prosthetics-Orthotics Inc., on Kirkwood Highway, is one of the few places to offer the Proprio Foot to patients. The limb is being called "a bionic foot," Horne said.
He said this new prosthetic limb will help mobilize amputees, and has a natural appearance compared to past prosthetics.
"Nothing has ever actually mimicked a human ankle like this," he said. "Also, appearance-wise it looks more natural."
Milson said not only is the Proprio Foot smart enough to change the angle of the foot to help amputees navigate through differences in terrain, but the foot also gives the amputee back a sense of "proprioception," the namesake of the prosthesis.
"Proprioception is the ability to know where your limb is in space," she said.
Previously, amputees have had to watch their foot when using stairs, or even walking, but the Proprio foot has sensors in the prosthesis allowing the user to actually feel where the foot is without looking, Milson said.
The product also has other physical benefits to amputees, Horne said.
"It helps reduce the energy expenditure of the patient," he said.
When moving from a sitting to standing position, an amputee without the new foot has to use his or her entire body to stand, Milson said. With the Proprio Foot, sitting and standing are much easier.
Proprio Foot is currently being sold throughout the world, however, approximately 500 feet have been purchased, Horne said. Not everyone is a candidate, he said.
Milson said Ossur is also involved in helping the candidates of the Proprio Foot.
"When the prosthetist decides the amputee is a good candidate, someone from Ossur actually flies out and helps the amputee," she said.
Horne said in order to be a viable candidate for the foot, the amputee has to be able to walk around without much help from a walking device.
"The patient we were working with was a high level candidate," he said. "He was a high-level walker. Some patients can't get back up and go to work."
Those patients would not be good candidates for the new prosthesis, he said.
Johnnie Able, the first amputee in Delaware to receive the Proprio Foot, was Horne's patient. Able said with the new prosthesis, he is already back at his job, working construction, and expects to stay there.
"It's just willpower," he said. "Getting up and doing it."
He said he is pleased with the new foot and his experience with Horne. He said that people are surprised when he tells them how recently he has become an amputee, because he frequently moves around without the use of a cane.
"I need a cane to walk a long way," Able said. "But for a short walk I don't use the cane."
Horne said because of its advanced technology, the Proprio foot is more expensive than the traditional prosthetic limb.
"It is not currently covered by traditional insurance companies," he said. "It is probably $15,000 without insurance."
Milson said the Proprio Foot has also been used to treat military amputees.
"The foot is being fitted on a lot of war [veterans] back from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as other veterans," Milson said.
As the technology develops, the price of the foot may drop as well, Horne said.
However, the price of the foot does not shadow its importance. Milson said new and innovative prostheses like the Proprio Foot could actually save an amputee's life.
"Most amputees lose their limbs because of cardiovascular disease or diabetes," she said. "Their circulation is very, very slow."
Milson said because it allows for increased mobility of the patient, the Proprio Foot can help patients with these types of circulation problems.
The more active and mobile an amputee can be, the more circulation in the limbs, therefore the chance of losing another limb decreases, she said.
"It becomes a matter of life and death for an amputee to become mobile," Milson said.
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