St. Louis Prosthetists Get Accredited in iHand and Proprio Foot

ABC Certified Prosthetists from P & O Care have become the only accredited providers of the new iHand in the St. Louis Region. Dan Luitjohan and Manny Rivera attended a course April 2 in Chicago put on by iHand's manufacturer, Touch Bionics, from Scottland. The iHand is the first prosthetic hand with individually moving digits, so it can hold a penny or a business card, turn a key in a lock, munch cell phone keys, or pick up a mug of coffee. Plus, it looks and moves much more naturally. The only downside: it costs a lot and is not covered yet by Medicare or private insurance.

All of P & O Care's five prosthetists, including Jon Wilson, Greg Doerr, and Maggie Ware-Smith, have become accredited in the new Proprio Foot by the manufacturer Ossur. The Proprio offers is the first "bionic" ancle, with computerized sensors and a tiny motor that adjusts the angle of the foot to the angle of the incline on which a person is walking. Clinical Director Jon Wilson jokes, "Now, I can give you a foot that you can get up with in the middle of the night, and if you stub your toe, you can say, 'Ouch!'"

That's going a little too far, but the Proprio enables below-knee amputees to walk much more naturally up and down ramps and hills or over uneven terrain than they could with even the best traditional non-bionic foot. Unfortunately, the Proprio is also expensive and difficult so far to get third party payment for, but that may be changing soon. It's also heavier than most feet, a little over two pounds, which means it would not be the best option for a lower-activity level individual.