Objectives: This paper describes further improvement and preliminarily evaluation of a novel viscoelastic ankle-foot prosthesis prototype. The objective was to control the ankle hysteresis at slow and normal walking speeds. Methods: Inspired by the ankle biomechanics, in which the hysteresis differs based on the gait speeds, a manually damping control mechanism imbedded in the prosthesis for...

Introduction: Surgical procedures, especially total laryngectomy, have a profound adverse effect on the patient's physical, functional, as well as emotional health, and strongly decrease quality of life. Tracheoesophageal puncture is one of the most significant method that is widely performed successfully by physicians. Current valve technology enables long expiring duration; however, gen...

OBJECTIVE To compare the hearing results in patients with otosclerosis who underwent a stapedotomy with either a platinum wire prosthesis or a commercially available, heat-activated nitinol stapes piston prosthesis. DESIGN Retrospective medical chart review. SETTING Academic tertiary care medical center. PATIENTS Seventy-nine consecutive patients diagnosed as having otosclerosis who under...

Numerical studies were performed to investigate bone cement polymerization, temperature history and thermal osteonecrosis in cemented hip replacements with finite element methods. In this paper, the effects of pre-cooling and pre-heating of the prosthesis and/or the cement prior to implantation were simulated. It was found that the cement polymerization initiated near the bone-cement interface ...

BACKGROUND Prostheses are used to varying degrees; however, little is known about how environmental aspects influence this use. OBJECTIVES To describe users' experiences of how environmental factors influence their use of a myoelectric arm prosthesis. STUDY DESIGN Qualitative and descriptive. METHODS A total of 13 patients previously provided with a myoelectric prosthetic hand participate...

Despite introduction of oral phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors and intracavernosal vasoactive agents, penile prosthesis implant remains a relevant and desired option with sales of penile prostheses continue to stay high, as many men became refractory to medical therapy and/or seeking a more effective and permanent therapy. There are two types of penile prosthesis implants: inflatable and non-...

The energy storing (ES) prosthesis has been used in the Prosthetic Foundation's workshop since 1987. Subjective responses from 168 amputees (141 trans-tibial and 27 trans-femoral) fitted with the ES prosthesis were analysed. Ratings were generally favourable in comparison with those for conventional prostheses. The most pronounced advantages of the new prosthesis as shown by the ratings were in...

A 75-year-old male had failed to respond conservative therapy for erectile dysfunction and had undergone insertion of a malleable penile prosthesis in 1995. Twenty years after the initial implant he presented with right-sided prosthesis localized in the buttock. There was no infection. The prosthesis was extracted through an incision in the right hip. As in the recent case, mechanical failures ...

There is currently a distinction drawn between a prosthesis considered to be provided for purely cosmetic reasons and a functional prosthesis provided to enable the amputee to achieve basic hand function. Using video analysis the study reported in this paper demonstrates that for non-manipulative actions cosmetic prostheses are actively used in the performance of everyday tasks as frequently as...

Severe physical and psychological distress occurs due to disfigurement caused by loss of eye. Ocular prosthesis is the only mode of rehabilitation for the missing eye. There are different materials and techniques used for the fabrication of the same. Resin proved to be the better among the available materials. Either using the stock eye or using customized ocular prosthesis has their own advant...