Every once in a while I am asked by a patient to provide them with a prosthetic foot that adjusts in heel height. I am actually surprised that I am not asked more often due to the advancements in this area. I am familiar with three of the newer feet that are available. 1. Accent from College Park 2. Elation from Ossur 3. Runway from Freedom Innovations. They have come a long way from the original Safe Adjustable heel Foot from over a decade ago.
I actually had the opportunity today to fit all three to a female 30 year old patient. She provided some great insight and evaluation to all three. She had actually been wearing the Runway for the past 2 years and has done very well but wanted to try a foot that had more locking positions. Both the Elation and the Accent have that ability. They all range from 0"-2 1/2" heel height. The Elation and Accent are both very easy to adjust compared to the Runway. However, out of all three, she stated that the Runway walked the smoothest, where the Elation foot had a dead spot at midstance, and the Accent foot fell right in between. The key to her final decision was the cosmetics. This was a no brainer for her. She immediately selected the Accent from College Park due to the sleek and low profile finish.
I find it very interesting that she chose cosmetics over the smoothness of the Runway foot. However, she did say, for her this is a fair trade. Better cosmetics for a less smooth foot. She also added that the fact that the Accent had multiple locking positions was also a winning point. She stated that she had trouble dialing in the Runway foots heel height to various pairs of shoes.
I would be interested to hear from you all your opinions on this matter.
Today was an interesting day because I had the opportunity to fit an I Limb to a 30 year old amputee. He had been wearing a prosthesis for 3 years due to a traumatic accident. The accident left the gentlemen a left wrist disarticulation. I have never met a more inspirational and positive individual. I encourage him to attend all of our support groups and any functions that he may be able to benefit someone else with his positive outlook on life post amputation.
He had been wearing a myoelectric prosthesis for the past 2 years and a body powered prosthesis for the year prior to that. He is highly functional and has all the recreational terminal devices that you can imagine from weight lifting to socket wrenches. But, I must say, after watching his face light up today after only 2 minutes of using the new ILimb, I must say I was intrigued. The new technology allows for such a real look and grasp as well as high function. Within 15 minutes he had mastered all aspects and features that the i limb had to offer. He found that tasks such as drinking from a water bottle had become simplified as well as picking up small items from a table. Even though he could do these tasks with his previous hand, the task just seemed to be less involved and far more realistic.
From my first experience, I am very impressed but am concerned with durability. However, this is a tool that should strongly be considered in the arsenal when treating the UE amputee