Patient Stories: Dr. Rubin and Infinite Biomedical Technologies (Part 2)

Dr. Andrew Rubin at Dankmeyer, with his mother and Luca the Goldendoodle.

This is the second part of a two part story, which begins with Dr. Andrew Rubin’s contribution. In October 2018, Dr. Rubin was featured in an article in Wired, a technology magazine, describing his work with Infinite Biomedical Technologies (IBT). (You can read the Wired article by clicking here.) IBT has been working with Dr. Rubin on a new system that could be used to control prosthetic devices. Megan Hodgson from IBT has provided us with a summary of the technology used on his upper limb prosthesis.

Infinite Biomedical Technologies (IBT), located in the heart of the Inner Harbor, Baltimore, has been developing solutions to improve the care and capabilities of people with upper limb difference since 2011. The Sense system, a pattern recognition-based arm prosthesis controller for electric arms, is one such solution. Instead of the standard control methods, which have been around since the 1960s and limit the user to two inputs, the Sense system uses eight inputs to gather information from all of the muscles in the limb as they contract. It is more intuitive, as users imagine their phantom limb moving, the sensors record the muscle activity, and the prosthesis responds to what the user is trying to do.

Not only does this have the potential to allow users to access more degrees of freedom in a prosthesis, it opens doors to patients for whom standard myoelectric control was thought to be unsuitable. Dankmeyer and IBT have worked together to develop these technologies and make sure that they are suitable for the clinic, and Dankmeyer has previously created incredibly well-fitting sockets and beautiful arms for past projects. The current collaboration is for an arm fitting for Dr. Andrew Rubin. Due to the nature of the amputation, Dr. Rubin has difficulty creating two distinct signals to activate the open and close signals on his limb. With the Sense technology, these signal patterns, known as cross-talk, are useful and even desired. Using pattern recognition virtual training technology, he has already achieved more movements with a virtual limb than he has been able to with his current prosthesis and is looking forward to getting a permanent prosthesis with the Sense technology. - Megan Hodgson

Photo Credits: Megan Hodgson, IBT.

Dr. Rubin is not the only Dankmeyer patient that has worked with IBT. George Levay appears in our News from July of 2017, which you can read by clicking here.

Patient Stories: Richard "Dick" Devers Year Three

Dick Devers first wrote a patient story two years ago after his first year as an amputee. Last year, at the second “anniversary” of his amputation, he wrote an update. You can read those stories by scrolling through our archives.

Dick was asked to make a commercial for a product he uses, and so this year, Dick shares his commercial! This commercial is beautifully filmed, and Dick talks about his limb loss and the active life he has been able to maintain. Dick, who sees Mark Treasure, CP, BOCO in our Lavale office, loves his West Virginia mountains (and Mountaineers!), his motorcycle, and his family. This love shines through the commercial.

Here is the commercial that Dick stars in!

Patient Stories: Joanne Hutchinson

Mrs. Joanne Hutchinson had her right leg amputated below the knee in May of 2017. She wore an offloading orthosis for a year and a half before her amputation in an effort to save her foot. She received her first prosthesis in August 2017 and hasn't looked back since!

She is happy to have gotten back to walking independently, shopping, and returning to "life as usual". In particular, she is so happy she can wear a regular shoe again! Before her first prosthesis in 2017, the last time she wore a shoe on her right side was the summer of 2015. She says, "To anyone out there that is going through an experience with their foot or part of their body, know that there is light at the end of the tunnel for you."

Patient Stories: Jeffry Barnes

Mr. Jeffry Barnes was in a couple of days ago at our Sinai office for an adjustment to his prosthesis. He is a patient of Sheryl Nathanson, CPO.

He has been an amputee for just under two years. Since receiving his prosthesis he has returned to walking independently and has gone back to working odds and ends jobs. He plans to run again soon! His advice to others in a similar situation is, "Just stay strong".

He recently went on a trip to Honduras, and he reports:

"I walked up a mountain and went zip-lining. And most importantly, I survived!"

Patient Stories: Robert Fleetwood

Meet Mr. Robert Fleetwood, a very successful user of a reciprocating gait orthosis (RGO). He has only had his orthosis since early May of 2018 but has made amazing gains in physical therapy! This is his third bout of physical therapy at the Kennedy Krieger Institute International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (ICSCI). He said that the most powerful motivators in his journey to recovery and walking again were his wife, and seeing the success of others around him at ICSCI. Mr. Fleetwood says that he struggled a lot internally to find motivation especially right after his injury. He says that after his injury, he had trouble even sitting upright when he first came to KKI. He wasn't able to dress himself or do a lot of his daily activities. He expressed a great deal of gratitude for his care team, both at KKI and Dankmeyer. He never thought he would be where he is now, given where he started.

He is now able to walk with a walker and his RGO, completely on his own, and can make a quarter lap around the ICSCI gym. One of his goals with the RGO was to stand without using his hands, so he could do more activities in the kitchen specifically, such as cooking and doing dishes. He is able to walk with his RGO for about 45 minutes to an hour so far, after roughly eight weeks of therapy. 

He expresses that the time after his injury was very difficult. Now when he sees someone that is newly injured that is at KKI, he will go over and talk to them, to see if he can help them out. He knows what it was like to struggle at the beginning, and wants to help other people in a similar situation. To anyone who is newly injured or having a tough time, he says, "Shoot for the stars. Don't let people tell you what you can and can't do." He feels truly blessed to have his wife, who helped him regain his motivation and also bring back his positive attitude. Once he got on the right track everything fell in place for him. He even improved his nutrition to help with his recovery and improve his strength.

His goal for his next bout of care is to do the running man exercise, shown here.

He also wants to be out in the community all day long, being able to walk with his orthoses. He hopes one day to progress to walking without his orthoses. His practitioner, Nina Bondre, CPO, says, “Mr. Fleetwood is truly an inspiration. Working with him has been a joy, and his positive energy is contagious. I hope others can see his success and be motivated to keep pushing themselves.”