New surgery and ‘snap-on’ prosthesis allows man with amputated limb to move freely without pain

A metal bar is anchored into the bone and attaches to a high-tech artificial limb

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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – For those who have lost a limb, living daily life and doing routine tasks is often not as simple as attaching a prosthetic limb. Many people affected by amputations can’t use artificial limbs due to deteriorating tissue, while many who do use traditional socket prosthetics struggle with constant pain and pressure that makes every step and movement difficult. Now, surgeons at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) are performing a new procedure that works with a reimagined artificial limb that makes it a “snap” for amputees to get moving more freely and with less pain.

“Osseointegration is a technique in which a metal bar is implanted into the bone, usually the femur bone in the thigh, that extends outside the body to connect to a prosthesis that snaps onto the bar,” said Dr. Joel Mayersonorthopaedic oncologist and director of Perioperative Services at OSUCCC—James. “This allows the artificial limb to function better and takes pressure off of the residual limb, preventing painful issues associated with socket prosthetics, such as friction, blistering, tissue degradation and skin problems.”

Osseointegration also allows for much more natural movement when combined with a procedure called targeted muscle reinnervation, which attaches severed nerves to remaining muscle. This procedure greatly reduces chronic pain experienced by amputees when firing nerves have nowhere to channel energy to and prepares the residual limb to interact with electrodes that allow patients to control their artificial limb with their brain.

“We’re creating sort of the Luke Skywalker effect from Star Wars by using the brain to move a body part the way it normally would. And it actually does move the prosthesis because the nerve is firing in this similar way to a natural limb,” Mayerson said.

While only a few osseointegration procedures have been performed in the U.S., the OSUCCC – James team hopes to make this procedure more widely accessible to people affected by amputations and eventually make it a solution that is implemented at the time of amputation.

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A new type of prosthetic limb snaps onto a metal bar surgically implanted into a patient’s bone, providing more stability and preventing the painful issues many people with amputations experience with traditional socket prostheses.

Dr. Joel Mayerson observes Broc Potts in physical therapy at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. In a new procedure, a metal bar was implanted in Potts’ bone that extends outside his body and snaps into an advanced prosthetic limb.

Broc Potts struggled with painful blistering while using a traditional socket prosthetic leg. Now, he has an advanced prosthetic that snaps onto a bar that was surgically implanted in this leg at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, allowing him to move more freely.

Broc Potts works with physical therapist Amy Compston at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute to learn how to snap on his new prosthetic leg that attaches to a bar surgically implanted into his femur.

Surgeons at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute perform a new procedure to implant inside the bone of an amputee a metal bar that extends outside the body and snaps onto an advanced artificial limb.



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