The first prosthetic valve was implanted by Hufnagel in 1952 in a patient with aortic insufficiency. Since then, prosthetic valves have evolved into various mechanical and bioprosthetic shapes and sizes. Despite the excitement surrounding the current development of prosthetic heart valves, surgically implanted valves remain the mainstay of current practice, and this article discusses the hemody...

We present a new methodology to measure the running biomechanics of amputees. This methodology combines the use of a spring-mass model and symmetry index, two standard techniques in biomechanics literature, but not yet used in concert to evaluate amputee biomechanics. The methodology was examined in the context of a pilot study to examine two transtibial amputee sprinters and showed biomechanic...

BACKGROUND Literature among fishermen of India is scanty. The external factors like diet, quality of dental hygiene and environmental factors have an effect on oral health. Moreover elderly age group offer very little importance towards their oral health. OBJECTIVE To assess the prosthetic status and prosthetic treatment needs among the geriatric fishermen population of Kutch coast, Gujarat, ...

Prosthetic care is a vital aspect of healthcare and rehabilitation for veterans and servicemembers with major traumatic limb loss. Our survey queried 581 veterans and servicemembers with limb loss from the Vietnam and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) conflicts. Among survey participants, 78.2% from the Vietnam conflict and 90.5% from the OIF/OEF conflict currently ...

The objective of this study is to investigate energy consumption during prosthetic walking and physical fitness in older hip disarticulation (HD) subjects and to examine the ambulatory outcome in a community setting. The subjects were seven unilateral HD amputees with an average age of 67.7 +/- 3.9 yr. Energy consumption was measured during prosthetic walking at each individual's comfortable wa...

BACKGROUND The performance of AlloDerm (LifeCell Corp., Branchburg, N.J.) in the setting of prosthetic breast reconstruction, infection, and radiation therapy has not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to review the author's experience with AlloDerm-assisted prosthetic breast surgery and determine the tolerance in the setting of infection and irradiation. METHODS A total of 3...

The rate of upper-limb amputations is increasing, and the rejection rate of prosthetic devices remains high. People with upper-limb amputation do not fully incorporate prosthetic devices into their activities of daily living. By understanding the reaching behaviors of prosthesis users, researchers can alter prosthetic devices and develop training protocols to improve the acceptance of prostheti...

We describe prosthetic limb prescription in the first year following lower-limb amputation and examine the relationship between amputation level, geographic region, and prosthetic prescription. We analyzed 2005 to 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Inpatient and Medical Encounters SAS data sets, Vital Status death data, and National Prosthetic Patient Database data for 9,994 Veterans who ...

Currently, it is unknown whether changing prosthetic limb stiffness affects the total limb stiffness and influences the shock absorption of an individual with transtibial amputation. The hypotheses tested within this study are that a decrease in longitudinal prosthetic stiffness will produce (1) a reduced total limb stiffness, and (2) reduced magnitude of peak impact forces and increased time d...

Introduction. It is estimated up to 6 % of prosthetic vascular grafts become infected. Staphylococcus aureus is predominant in early infection and coagulase-negative staphylococci are predominant in late infections. Enterobacteriaceae cause 14-40 % of prosthetic vascular graft infections. This is, to our knowledge the first reported case of Salmonella gastroenteritis causing chronic prosthetic ...