The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago established the first private Amputee Clinic in the Chicago area in 1954 . In 1958, with financing by the Veterans Administration, a prosthetics research facility was established in the physical facilities of the Rehabilitation Institute by the Department of Orthopaedics, Northwestern University Medical School. From its inception the activities of the Pro...

An extant tissue indentor used for amputee residual limb tissue indentation studies was modified to include laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) to enable measurement of tissue perfusion during indentation. This device allows quantitative assessment of the mechanical and physiological response of soft tissues to load, as demonstrated by indentation studies of the lower-limb tissues of young healthy su...

IF IT may be postulated correctly that the most satisfactory artificial leg is the one which most nearly simulates the static and dynamic behavior of the natural limb it replaces, the successful practice of lower-extremity prosthetics poses a twofold requirement. The first is an intimate and detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the normal leg in all common activities, and the second is ...

To assess the needs of lower-limb amputees and identify differences between diabetic dysvascular amputees and traumatic amputees, we held a multistakeholder focus-group workshop whose participants included veteran lower-limb amputees, clinicians, researchers, and prosthetic device manufacturers. We conducted the initial workshop sessions as traditional focus-group meetings with homogeneous part...

Lower-limb amputees often exhibit large fluctuation in residual-limb shape, necessitating careful observation and anthropometric measurement for prosthetists to ensure socket fit. Anthropometric measurement may become more important as an outcome measure indicating success in rehabilitation. This study investigated the accuracy and reliability of seven prosthetic anthropometric measurement devi...

OBJECTIVES To describe the development of the Amputee Mobility Predictor (AMP) instrument designed to measure ambulatory potential of lower-limb amputees with (AMPPRO) and without (AMPnoPRO) the use of a prosthesis, and to test its reliability and validity. DESIGN Measurement study using known groups method and concurrence with existing measures. SETTING Academic medical center. PARTICIPA...

The aim of this study was to determine the rehabilitation outcome of lower limb amputee patients after clinical rehabilitation. Altogether 183 amputee patients admitted for clinical rehabilitation in the years 1987-1991 were reviewed by retrospective analysis of medical record data. Three groups of amputee patients were identified by reason for amputation. The vascular group: (N = 132), mean ag...

This paper reports an evaluation of 132 patients seen at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre amputee programme during a 24-month period, carried out to evaluate the programme's effectiveness. In addition to a review of charts, a questionnaire was used (85% return rate) to help determine functional outcomes. The patient profile revealed a 3.4:1 male-to-female ratio and an average age of 64.8 +...

OBJECTIVE This study aims to describe psychosocial status in lower limb amputees referred to a Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) department of a central Portuguese Hospital. METHODS Cross-sectional study of 45 consecutive patients with lower limb amputation, referred to PMR consultation after hospital discharge. Of the initial sample, two patients were excluded from the analysis, and...

OBJECTIVE Decision making within amputee rehabilitation includes the assessment of whether a patient is suitable for a prosthesis and if so, what components to provide. This study seeks to increase understanding about clinicians' perspectives on what factors influence these decisions. METHOD One-to-one semi-structured interviews were completed with 23 experienced clinicians at their place of ...