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An AOPA session in Las Vegas found socket loosening and volume fluctuation are the top care challenges when prosthetic users start rapid weight loss medications. If you wear a prosthesis and are taking or considering a GLP-1 drug, here is what to expect and what to tell your prosthetist.
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Fresh reporting
Sarah Wall, a bilateral amputee, called ahead to confirm a resort's pool lift was functional. It wasn't. Her ADA complaint went unanswered. The escalation path that eventually got a new lift installed runs through state agencies, city coordinators, and corporate offices, not the federal process most people know about.
Children with limb loss can outgrow a prosthetic socket every few months. A University of Pennsylvania study found that an adjustable, immediate-fit design was feasible, well-accepted, and matched conventional sockets on walking speed, with better marks on ease of adjustment and temperature control.
A Nebraska-based O&P company received a $306,864 NIH grant to develop a prosthetic liner using chitosan nanofibers to fight residual limb infection without antibiotics. The project is in Phase I, with clinical trials the goal if the proof-of-concept succeeds.
Florida's state Medicaid agency lifted its DMEPOS enrollment moratorium last month, separate from the federal Medicare freeze that expired in August. New O&P practices can now apply to enroll in Florida Medicaid, which matters most for patients trying to find a new provider.
Alexander Davidson is the first participant in the University of Utah's neuroprosthetics program to use the BIOS direct nerve interface at home for an extended trial. The study tests how a device that restores touch sensation and thought-controlled movement performs across real daily life, not just supervised lab sessions.
University of Colorado biomedical engineering students designed a multilayered heated residual limb warmer for cold-weather use. Their device took the Rehabilitative and Assistive Technologies Prize in the NIH DEBUT Challenge. It is a prototype, but the problem it addresses has been real for as long as winter adaptive sport has existed.
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Getting started · 8 min readWhat has to happen before your first prosthetic fitting↗
Getting started · 12 min readUpper limb prosthetic control systems: what your options are and what to ask before choosing↗
Daily life · 10 min readAfter a vascular amputation: taking care of the leg you still have↗
Daily life · 10 min readGetting mental health care after limb loss: how to recognize when you need it and how to find it↗
Gear & care · 11 min readSocket skin breakdown: how to read what you're looking at and what to do next↗Have a lead or a correction?
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