News
Amputees Adjust To Limb Loss
August 3rd 2021
Truck driver John-Guy Foisy was headed to a delivery in Atlanta in September 2019 when another driver cut him off, forcing his truck to flip over. His left arm, dangling out the open driver’s side window, took the brunt of the impact. He was rushed to the local hospital with…
Amputee Detective Adopts Double-Amputee Dog
July 13th 2021
A dog that underwent the partial amputation of both of her back feet in March has found a home with a San Diego police detective who lost his leg in a motorcycle crash in Alpine nearly eight years ago, the San Diego Humane Society announced Tuesday.
Detective James “Chappie” Hunter…
Study: Brain Stimulation Can Improve Prosthesis Control
June 16th 2021
The human sense of touch is critical to being able to perform many activities of daily living. We take our ability to feel how heavy a cup of hot liquid is and make adjustments without thinking about it to prevent liquid from spilling from the cup. For people who use…
Amputee Football Player Back On The Field
May 25th 2021
Derek Loccident snugged on his helmet and snapped up his chinstrap, but before he stepped on the football field, he stopped himself. He needed a little pep talk. “All right, just don’t panic,” he told himself a week ago Saturday as he stood on the Wantland Stadium sideline at the University of…
Better Movement For Amputees With Haptic Prosthetic Hands
May 11th 2021
Researchers from Johns Hopkins and Drexel universities say that adding haptics—an artificial sense of touch—to upper limb prostheses reduces the mental effort required to operate the device, bringing us closer to developing prosthetic technology that functions more like healthy limbs.
In what researchers are calling the first study of its…
Patient Spotlight: Amputee Finds Help in Surprising Place
April 20th 2021
Kalob Harrison was looking to get the tires on his van aligned, but he ended up getting a whole lot more — including a newfound confidence, and for the first time in seven years he walked without crutches. “I just went there to get an alignment,” Harrison said.
Kurtis Smith works…
Actress To Change Hollywood's Perspective of Disabilities
April 16th 2021
Before losing her leg in a car accident in 2012, Rachel Handler was a musical theater performer. Once she became an amputee, she was only being considered for roles as a hospital patient or military veteran.
“It’s like the industry only saw my prosthetic leg and not me as a…
16-year-old Amputee Youngest Athlete At World Para Games
March 23rd 2021
ZIMBABWE’S teenage blade runner, 16-year-old Pride Mafira, was the youngest athlete at the World Para Athletes Grand Prix recently held in Dubai.
Although he did not qualify for the 100m final after running the heat in 17.66 seconds, the Victoria Falls-based amputee set a personal best jump record of 3.01m…
Magnetic Skin Sensor Improves Prosthesis Movement
March 9th 2021
Researchers at the City University of Hong Kong have developed a soft sensor for sensitive measurement of shear forces applied to its surface. When attached to robotic grippers, the tactile sensing allows for fine control of grasped objects, enabling the robot to perform impressive feats, such as threading a needle…
Sensor Developed That Controls Prosthesis' Movement
February 25th 2021
A wearable device engineered by researchers from the University of California Berkeley, IBM Research Zurich and University of Bologna (Italy) recognizes hand gestures based on electrical signals detected in the forearm. The system, which combines biosensors with artificial intelligence (AI), could one day be used to control prosthetics or to…