AmputeeFollow a beat
Research and new tools can sound decisive in a headline. Here we look at what was actually studied, who it involved, and what remains unknown for everyday prosthetic use and limb health.
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The CYBORG early feasibility study placed Phantom X, a subcutaneous sensor that picks up residual limb muscle signals and sends wireless commands to a prosthetic, in its first participants in Melbourne. The device is investigational and not approved for clinical use.
The archive
The Plus-M is already in use at many prosthetics clinics. Research selected for the 2027 Thranhardt Lecture Series Award examines whether individual items in it carry fall-risk signal beyond the composite score.
A University of Pennsylvania feasibility study in 28 children found an adjustable, immediate-fit prosthetic socket matched conventional devices on walking performance, with significantly better scores on ease of adjustment and self-reported improvements in temperature and perspiration control.
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.
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.
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.
Four Italian institutions published the first tissue-engineered regenerative peripheral nerve interface implanted and connected to a peripheral nerve in a preclinical model. The approach is new; clinical trials are a separate timeline.
A Canadian startup is testing whether camera data from smart glasses can let a prosthetic arm identify objects and pre-set its grip, instead of waiting for the user to consciously generate a muscle signal. The idea addresses a documented problem with upper-limb prosthetics, though the system is still a prototype.
University of Waikato engineers developed an optical harness for upper-limb prosthetic control to sidestep the signal failures of standard myoelectric sensors. A calibration problem with darker skin tones was flagged during development, not after.
A preliminary study in Clinical Imaging found that preoperative MRI, processed with open-source 3D Slicer software, can estimate breast volume within 0.5 percent across three test cases. The researchers say the method could give post-mastectomy patients a more accurate starting point for prosthesis selection without requiring physical exposure during fitting.
Researchers at Zhejiang University of Technology tested a pressure-sensing 'skin' in prosthetic sockets that mimics pain signal processing. In three transtibial amputees, it identified gait problems producing harmful loading in real time.
The Regenstein Foundation Center for Bionic Medicine at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab has implanted the e-OPRA system in its first US patient. The device combines four technologies the field has been developing separately: bone-anchored attachment, targeted muscle reinnervation, implanted pattern-recognition sensors, and nerve-based sensory feedback.
Matthew Wernke's award-winning presentation at AOPA's National Assembly targets a gap that should not exist: almost no data currently guides how prosthetists distribute pressure across the residual limb when designing a socket.
An air-bladder sleeve that manages socket volume fluctuations in real time has expanded to transfemoral users. It fits inside existing suspension systems and has a US reimbursement code.
Sonera, a UC Berkeley startup whose technology had prosthetic control among its stated applications, has reportedly been acquired by Apple. The acquisition is unannounced. Here is what the technology was, and what that typically means for clinical applications.
A UT Knoxville engineering team is developing the Myo-Bridge, an implant that senses the physical motion of residual muscles rather than their electrical signals, then relays that information wirelessly to an external prosthetic hand. The device also aims to send grip force data back to the residual limb so users can feel what the hand is holding. Up to 45 percent of powered prosthetic hand users eventually stop using the device.
A randomized crossover trial including Hugh Herr compared variable-stiffness and variable-damping quasi-passive ankles against two ESR ankles across eight walking tasks. What the study found, what it didn't, and what quasi-passive actually means for transtibial amputees.
The O&P EDGE's September 2026 practitioner series on hip disarticulation patients reaches its third installment, covering component selection and clinical outcomes. What those decisions mean for patients and families trying to understand what they are facing.
Studies going back four decades show patients are redirected before they finish stating their concerns. For prosthetics appointments, where multiple concurrent issues compete for limited time, the timing math is worth understanding.
A September 2026 O&P EDGE article describes a clinician's first encounter with pyoderma gangrenosum in a prosthetic patient. The condition is rare, often misdiagnosed as infection, and has a defining feature that makes it particularly difficult in an amputee context: it gets worse when you apply the kind of mechanical trauma that prosthetic socket management usually involves.
An O&P researcher argues in September's O&P EDGE that the field's biggest access problem isn't a device problem. Eli Park looks at what the treatment reach for phantom limb pain actually shows.
The pathway from a diabetic foot wound to amputation is not a single event. The IWGDF infection classification describes stages where the range of options narrows at each step. What that means for people who have already had a vascular-related amputation.
University of Georgia published research on VR technology for retraining the brain after limb loss. What immersive visual feedback adds to established mirror therapy approaches, and where this sits relative to clinical availability.
The O&P EDGE frames the clinical case for adjustable lower-limb socket designs. Here is the patient-facing translation: what it means, when to bring it up, and what to say.
Researchers compared brace efficacy in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis curves that apex above T7/T8. High thoracic curves pose a specific mechanical challenge that makes this comparison clinically meaningful, if you understand why the two braces work differently.
A popular-press item about electronic skin giving touch sensation to prosthetics is making the rounds. The sensor research is real. So is the distance between a lab demonstration and something a prosthetist can fit.
Affordability headlines for 3D-printed prosthetics are real in some corners of the market and premature in others. Which one applies to you depends on what device you need, your functional level, and how your insurance bills it.
Research from the Hanger Institute, published in PM&R, reports that adjustable-volume sockets improved comfort, quality of life, and satisfaction at a clinically meaningful level. The finding matters; so does reading it with care.
O&P EDGE profiled Tre Adkins's experience with osseointegration. Here's the broader picture: how the procedure works, what the research says about outcomes and risks, and the questions worth bringing to a surgical team.
An O&P EDGE contributor who has worn upper-limb prostheses for more than five decades reviews the evolution of adjustable, self-suspending transradial socket designs, and what that long-term view contributes to a fitting conversation.
Researchers including Max Ortiz-Catalan studied outcomes from phantom motor imagery, a treatment that asks patients to mentally exercise a missing limb. What the findings mean, and what they leave open.
Researchers analyzed hands, wrists, and elbow devices across control types and structural approaches. The finding that similar constraints run across the category is more useful than it sounds.
The VA/DoD’s updated rehabilitation guideline includes patient-facing tools. That can make appointments easier to prepare for, even when care is not through VA.
A recent survey found varied success with adjustable-volume sockets. The headline is not a product verdict; it is a reminder to ask better fitting questions.
