"Rob Murphy experimenting
with prototype dive legs
only 4 months after his accident!!!"
Cheers Matt
"It feels great to finally
be diving again with friends,
and getting some of my life back"
Rob Murphy
'When we were finally able to get started,
AneMary took right to the leg.
I used one of my proprietary suction
designs and it worked great.
She looked up at herself in the mirror
and I saw that bright smile of hers.
The next time I saw her, she just walked in
.. no walker, no canes…'
Matt & AneMary
"Little Jeff showing off
his new power ranger prosthesis,
losing his first tooth and learning
how to ride his bike all in one week!"
Matt
Matt and Scott show off
a Guy Harvey design on a socket.
Patients love the custom
patterns we can create
for their prosthesis.
Matt & Scott
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Stability

The most common instabilities addressed by prosthetists are the ones that cause pain. For below the knee amputees it is the anterior and distal aspect of the tibia (the shin). For above the knee amputees, it is usually the distal, lateral end of the Femur.  These areas have been focused on for years, and are normally addressed easily.
The issue I don’t see addressed enough is medial-lateral stability (side to side play). This is a TREMENDOUS issue for both trans-femoral and trans-tibial amputees. It is easy to “fix” this by aligning the foot more laterally, but this causes the amputee to shift his shoulders each step further over the prosthesis to maintain balance. The amputee uses more energy to walk and has an obvious limp.
By designing the prosthesis and socket with M-L stability in mind, we can more closely match the natural alignment a leg would have.  There are, however, many factors that come into play:  Length of the limb below the joint, amount and mobility of the soft tissue, activities and weight of the person. All these factors affect the other and so have to be dealt with. My goal is to minimize the instability and most nearly match the natural alignment.

  • Stability