Gene Linked to Scoliosis Identified
Researchers have identified a gene linked to scoliosis, the condition that leads to C- and S-shaped curvatures of the spine. The gene—known as CHD7—was discovered by scientists at Washington Univ­ersity’s School of Medicine in St. Louis. A defect in CHD7 was traced to idiopathic scoliosis, the most common form of the condition that typically affects otherwise healthy children. 

Data was collected on 52 families with a history of scoliosis in at least two members—one being the person who sought treatment and another from an earlier generation. Genome-wide scans were performed on the patients, all of whom had an average spinal curvature of 40 degrees and did not have other illnesses. Researchers then analyzed the billions of letters of genetic code spelled out in the scans. 

While researchers were able to identify a defect in the gene, they do not yet know how the defect leads to curvature of the spine.

“If we understand the genetic basis of the condition, we can theoretically predict who is going to develop scoliosis and develop treatments to intervene before the deformity sets in,” says Anne Bowcock, professor of genetics, medicine and pediatrics at the university. 

Severe scoliosis is typically treated by surgery or by wearing an orthopedic brace. 

For more information, visit mednews.wustl.edu.

Triple Amputee Begins Medical Career
In June, Kellie Lim—a 26-year-old triple amputee—graduated from the UCLA medical school. Lim lost both of her legs and part of her right arm at the age of eight due to bacterial meningitis, according to a recent article in the LA Times.

Lim’s dedication to medicine won her the university’s highest award for excellence in pediatrics. She says working with children leaves her “smiling at the end of the day,” and feels her personal experience of childhood illness helps her relate to her young patients and their families. 

Working without a prosthetic arm, Lim proved she could perform most medical procedures with only her left hand. She uses simple devices to assist her when required, such as a limb extender for a lung exam requiring pressure from two hands. 

Lim’s eagerness to achieve in spite of physical limitations has also led her to learn to swim, ride horseback, and go skydiving. She drives a car and lives in an apartment with no special accommodations.

“She has [such] an aura of confidence about her that you don’t worry,” says Dr. Elijah Wasson, one of her supervisors at the hospital. 

For more information, visit www.latimes.com.

Senators Urge Increased Funding for VA Prosthetics Research
U.S. Senators Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawaii, and Larry E. Craig, R-Idaho, recently sent a letter to the subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee responsible for Veterans Affairs (VA) funding. The letter urges a significant increase in funding for VA medical and prosthetics research in 2008. President Bush’s proposed fiscal year 2008 budget for VA research is $411 million, a $1 million decrease from current funding levels, according to the senators.

“[This decrease in funding] would result in the direct loss of 193 full-time employees, impacting VA’s ability to effectively respond to the medical needs of veterans,” reads the letter. It also addresses specific advances such as liver transplants and the development of cardiac pacemakers, both of which were developed through VA research. 

The letter also focuses on the need for a “robust research program” that can continue to make advances for the thousands of troops that are wounded in combat.

“Improvements in battlefield medicine enable the military medical personnel to stabilize injuries, but often the wounded men and women will require prosthetics and extensive rehabilitation to achieve maximum independence. There should be no disagreement that for all these veterans have sacrificed in the line of duty, we should match their commitment to service [with] a similar commitment to vigorously explore new ways to help them live freer and fuller lives,” reads the letter. 

For more information, visit veterans.senate.gov.

Diabetics Turn to Unconventional Treatments
Diabetic ulcers—the infections that can lead to amputation if they never heal—are now being treated with two unconventional methods. One is a special solution. The other is just slimy. 

Microcyn™ is a solution developed by Oculus Innovative Sciences, a California biotech company. It works by raiding single-cell organisms, such as the drug-resistant bacteria found in diabetic ulcers, of their electrons and destroying the organisms in the process. Multi-cellular organisms, such as animals and humans, are not negatively affected.

Microcyn is created by adding salt to purified water and then bumping an oxygen electron out of orbit by using a multi-chamber electrolysis process. The resulting solution is highly oxygenated and ionized, but still looks and smells like water. 

Unlike other forms of super-oxygenated water, Microcyn is able to keep its ions regenerating, which provides for a shelf life of one year. It is also safe if ingested, disposed of, or allowed to come into contact with the face or hands. 

In contrast, a form of therapy that has been around for centuries is making a comeback. Researchers are examining how fly larvae, the slimy creatures commonly known as maggots, eat away decomposing material, to see if they are an effective method of cleaning and disinfecting wounds. 

Despite their unsettling appearance and feel, maggots are proving an effective and inexpensive type of wound care. 

More studies are needed on both methods before either a super solution or fly larvae are proven to be viable in combating problematic ulcers.

For more information on Microcyn, visit www.oculusis.com.

Free Trial of www.LCodeSearch.com
This month, AOPA will offer a free trial of its new online coding resource www.LCodeSearch.com. From August 27, anyone may obtain a login and password that will be good for 30 days. 

The site allows users to match products to L codes and manufacturers. Visitors will be able to search by L code, by category (orthotics or prosthetics), by area of the body, or by manufacturer. 

This exclusive service will only be available to AOPA members after the free trial period expires on September 21.

For more information or to join AOPA, contact Kelly O’Neill at koneill@AOPAnet.org or (571) 431-0852.

Oregon Signs Parity Bill
In June, Oregon became the seventh state to pass a bill that ensures prosthetic coverage. A “prosthetic parity” bill mandates that insurance plans offering benefits for O&P care must provide full coverage without caps and co-pays that restrict access to prescribed devices, according to the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA). The ACA is a major sponsor of such laws. 

“This is a major triumph for amputees in the state of Oregon,” said Morgan Sheets, national advocacy director for the ACA. 

For more information, visit www.amputee-coalition.org.

Orthoses May Help Stroke Sufferers
Special tone-reducing orthoses may one day help stroke sufferers walk easier, according to a recent article in the Star News Group. Aileen Ibuki, a Ph.D. student at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, is studying how muscle tightness and spasticity—common side effects of a stroke or brain injury—can be reduced with tone-reducing orthoses.

“Once you’ve had a stroke, even though the stroke’s in the head, it really affects the limbs and the muscles in the limbs,” Ibuki was quoted as saying. 

Patients in the study have a mold taken of their leg and then a custom-designed brace built to test on them. Special toe bars, foot plates and pads are then used to apply pressure to muscles in an attempt to reduce tightness and relax the foot. 

According to Ibuki, the cause of muscle tightness after a stroke is still unknown. 

“It’s one of those things we still don’t understand: how it happens, why the injury to the brain leads to this condition in the limbs,” said Ibuki.

For more information, visit www.starnewsgroup.com.au.

Mobile Clinics Roll in for Victims of Violence
Mobile medical units will offer local service to residents of the violence-afflicted southern provinces of Thailand. The Ministry of Public Health has set up traveling centers to make prosthetic limbs, and to provide eye care and dental treatment to residents in their homes.

Dr. Vallop Thainuea, the deputy public health minister, said the violence in the area has left many rural villagers, as well as officials, needing medical care. Thainuea recently met with health officials from five southern border provinces to discuss medical aid for the handicapped, and visited the center for prosthetic legs at a local hospital to encourage the public health volunteers.

For more information, visit www.taipeitimes.com.

Essentially Women Holds Seventh Annual Conference
In May, Essentially Women, a purchasing group for women’s health care products, held its seventh annual conference and trade show in St. Charles, Missouri. The event, titled “Focus on the Future,” held product training courses approved by ABC and BOC, as well as programs on business development, merchandizing, marketing and more.

The three-day conference also featured an exhibit hall showcasing 60 exhibitors of women’s health care products. 

For more information, visit www.essentiallywomen.com.

Inventor Has Improved Finger in His Grasp
Dan Didrick of Naples, Fla. has won second prize in a national invention contest with the X-Finger, a steel and plastic prosthetic finger that can curl and support weight like a real finger. The contest was sponsored by the History Channel and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation and gathered 2,500 submissions. 

As reported by the Naples Daily News, for the past four years, Didrick has been developing the system. A quarter-inch residual stub is needed to activate the lever on the prosthetic finger: when the stub moves downward, the lever activates a curling motion at the prosthetic knuckle. The X-Finger is the first non-robotic finger with a full range of motion. 

Didrick’s goal is to provide an X-Finger to every soldier injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the article. He received $5,000 in prize money and estimates that he needs another $11 million for three years of production of the device. He is currently looking for government funding. “Every soldier who has seen how the finger works wants one,” says Didrick. 

For more information, visit www.naplesnews.com.

Amputee Soldier Builds Walter Reed Rehab Center
Army Maj. David Rozelle, an amputee since being injured in Iraq in 2003, is now deputy program manager for amputee care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. 

The Army reports that Rozelle is supervising construction of the new Amputee Care Center, a building that will comprise 30,000 square feet and hold training rooms, prosthetic adjustments, an indoor track, a climbing wall, and other exercise facilities. Two sides of the building will be made of glass, to allow sunlight into the exercise rooms and boost morale.

In addition to overseeing the building of the center, Rozelle will help develop policy and programs for the center and act as a mentor for injured soldiers. A year after losing his foot, Rozelle returned to combat in Iraq, and he understands the desire of veterans to regain the physical activity level they had before their injuries.

“We get them back to where they deserve to be, and that’s at the highest level of physical training and ability,” Rozelle says of the men and women who will be undergoing rehabilitation at the center. 

Rozelle hopes to have the building ready for use by October 2007.

For more information, visit www.army.mil.

Amputee Soldiers Returning to Active Duty
As prosthetics continue to advance, more and more amputees are returning to active military duty than ever before. Almost 600 Army soldiers have undergone amputations for combat injuries since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began. Of  these, 31 have returned to active duty, with at least seven currently in combat, according to an article on www.military.com. Others return to jobs as instructors or administrators.

According to Mark Heniser, a physical therapist in the amputee program at Fort Sam Houston, soldiers with a longer service record are more likely to stay in a military career after such an injury than those who lose a limb not long after joining the Army.

For more information, visit www.military.com.

Transitions

People in the News

The Amputee Coalition of America, based in Knoxville, Tenn., has hired Stephanie Guthrie as the new development and sales associate and Kimberly Phillips as an office assistant.

Chason Stavely has joined the Amputee Prosthetic Clinic Co. of Macon, Ga. as its technical services director.

Rhonda Tuner, BOCPO, has resigned from the board of directors of the Board for Orthotist/Prosthetist Certification (BOC). Turner served for 18 months as a BOC board member.

Rebecca L. Friddle is the new coordinator for quality assurance and regulatory affairs at Friddle’s Orthopedic of Honea Path, S.C.

Jim Young, CP, FAAOP, is the new president of the Georgia Society of Orthotists & Prosthetists.

Cyle Gates has completed his prosthetic residency with Little Rock Prosthetics and has begun his orthotic residency. Gates graduated from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical center in Dallas.

Jeremy Knight has joined Little Rock Prosthetics as a prosthetic lab technician. Knight is a graduate of Century College in White Bear Lake, Minn.

Bridget Martinek is the new order expeditor for PEL Supply Company of Cleveland.

Jolie Davis has been promoted to warehouse branch manager for the new SPS distribution center in Middleton, Penn. Davis has worked for SPS since 1997, most recently supervising the Atlanta distribution center.

Businesses in the News

Arizona AFO has launched a new Web site, www.arizonaafo.com, with product styles, options, indications and procedures.

Bio-Medic Appliances Inc. of Essex Junction, Vt. has been sold to Deborah Wilde, CPO, the company’s lead practitioner. Founders Daniel and Susan Hebert are retiring after running the business for 24 years. Wilde plans to expand the business by hiring another practitioner and branching out to rural areas.

Bio-Medic serves northeastern Vermont and parts of upstate New York.

Danmar Products Inc., based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is celebrating its 40th year in business. Since 1968, Danmar has manufactured seating and positioning equipment, headgear and adaptive aquatic equipment for persons with disabilities.

Monroe BioTechnology is the new name of the Green Bay, Wisconsin-based company formerly known as Monroe Prosthetics & Orthotics. “Simply using the terms prosthetics and orthotics doesn’t fully describe us,” said David Jolley, CP, FAAOP, a partner in the business.

National Chiao Tung University, in Hsinchu City, Taiwan, highly ranked for its scientific and engineering research, intends to establish a research center for intelligent prosthetic devices. University President Wu Chung-yu announced that the new facility will specialize in advanced bionic devices and biomedical technology. 

Liu Wen-tai, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will lead the center. Liu has spent years researching and developing electronic eyes, and hopes the center will enable him to begin a phase of human testing in both the U.S. and Taiwan.

The National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) is accepting nominations for two positions on its board of directors. Each will serve a three-year term, beginning January 1, 2008 and expiring December 31, 2010. Nomination forms can be accessed at ncope.org/assets/pdfs/NominationForms050807.pdf and are due Aug. 31.

The Orthotic and Prosthetic Assistance Fund (OPAF) is seeking donations for its upcoming silent auction at the 2007 AOPA National Assembly, Sept. 17–20 at the Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. 

Items that will appeal to a broad audience—such as sports or music tickets, unique items and works of art—are especially desired, noted Robin Burton, president of OPAF.

Donations forms are available on OPAF’s Web site (www.opfund.org) and must be submitted to the OPAF office, along with the donated item(s), by Sept. 1.

SPS has opened an additional distribution center in Middleton, Penn. The company has three other centers in Alpharetta, Ga., Dallas and Paso Robles, Calif.    

TMC Orthopedic of Houston has acquired Tejas Orthopedic. Jorge A. Rodriquez, C.Ped, will now serve patients at TMC’s South Loop location in Houston.