Page 23 - UD Research Magazine Vol5-No1

Patients so far have been referred
to the clinic through Independence Prosthetics-Orthotics, which has a lab location outside Newark. Owner John Horne works with BADER staff, UD physical therapy clinicians and other researchers to learn more about patient needs and challenges they may be facing.
Information captured through motion analysis inside BADER’s treadmill lab— where cameras capture the movements of patients walking or running on the split- belt instrumented treadmill—helps Horne and his staff make changes to improve patient function and comfort.
So far, the approach seems to be working for Ashly Ash, who was recently fitted with a new prosthesis specially designed to be
more functional for her type of higher-level amputation. She is the fourth patient to visit the BADER Clinic, and she credits the streamlined approach with changing her own expectations of what’s possible.
“Before this, you’re going to this doctor and that doctor and they don’t necessarily talk to each other. It’s all on the patient to handle everything,” said Ash, who is missing three joints as a result of her amputation.
Horne, with funding assistance from BADER, arranged for a national expert on Ash’s type of amputation—known as hip disarticulation—to visit Newark and demonstrate a new model for making a
prosthesis. After it was made, Ash walked on the treadmill at the BADER Lab and underwent further tweaking by staff.
She said the experience was unlike any she had before. Stanhope said it highlights what’s possible to help patients reach their optimal level of function.
“It’s really a one-stop shop. I think it will
really make a precedent
for the way health care
is handled for amputees,” she said. “It’s so much easier going here and having every- one connect.”
+ For more information, visit the BADER Consortium at bader-c.org.
A beaming Ashly Ash
with her team at UD's BADER Clinic. From left, Jay Martin, prosthetist; Elisa Schrank, UD doctoral student in mechanical engineering; John Horne, owner of Indepen- dence Prosthetics- Orthotics; and Pete Seaman, a certified prosthetist at the company.
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LANE MCLAUGHLIN