About the Center
Overview
Who We Are
Founded in 1997, our Center has more than 40 researchers and staff. We are a group of clinicians and investigators working together to understand the needs of patients with limb loss. We conduct primary research as well as translational research, and attempt to inform decision makers about new and currently available treatment options. We have developed extensive, synergistic laboratories and research programs dedicated to solving the problems faced by veterans at risk for lower limb amputation and lower limb amputees.
Our Mission
Our mission is to improve the quality of life and ambulatory status of veterans with functional impairment of the lower limb or those who have undergone lower extremity amputation.
Achievements
- Home to 2 Paul B. Magnuson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rehabilitation Research and Development Recipients - Bruce Sangeorzan, M.D. and Joseph Czerniecki, M.D.
- Home to 2 Research Career Scientist Award Recipients - Glenn Klute, Ph.D. and William Ledoux, Ph.D.
- Developed and validated the Amputee Single Item Mobility Measure (AMPSIMM) - a novel, single item self-report measure for evaluating the functional mobility of patients experiencing limb loss that quantifies mobility with a single question. It has been added as an outcome measure in the VA Amputee Registry and is currently being implemented as part of the elctronic medical record across rehabilitation centers in Singapore.
- Developed the robotic gait simulator (RGS), a hexapod-based device that is capable of biofidelically 'walking' cadaveric feet.
- First to test individuals walking on unexpected, uneven terrain in a controlled, laboratory environment developed the first prosthetic ankle with an actuator, sensors, and a controller intended to improve balance on uneven terrain.
- Pioneered the use of turning and maneuvering studies to develop a novel prosthesis that allows the user to select their preferred rotational stiffness in real-time or enable a machine learning algorithm to optimize it for them. This unique device is currently undergoing a clinical trial with the help of veteran volunteers.
- Developed a novel prosthesis that can expel more than a third of total perspiration. The impact for veterans is a prosthesis that enables longer, uninterrupted periods of participation in perspiration-inducing activities.
- Designed and built a variable stiffness torsion adapter to facilitate amputee maneuvering and equipped it with a unique algorithm that can accurately predict an upcoming turn and change its properties in anticipation. The impact for veterans is a prosthesis that it can think for itself and make turning easier.
