Page 18 - UD Research Magazine Vol5-No1

16 | UD RESEARCH
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A STORY FROM THE HOMEFRONT Ashly Ash lost her right leg to cancer more than
20 years ago, but even now she was still look- ing for a durable prosthesis to accommodate her higher-level amputation and active lifestyle.
These patients typically face additional challenges related to balance, walking and other activities.
Martin spent two days in Delaware working with Ash.
He casted her at Horne’s lab in Newark, and it didn’t take long for the 29-year-old to notice the process was faster, easier and less messy than in the past.
“That’s our socket,” Martin told Ash while drawing on the wet plaster cast wrapped around her pelvis. “That’s all it’s going to encapsulate.”
“That’s the entire socket right there?” she said.
“That’s all you’re going to need,” he said.
“Wow!" Ash said.
The next day, Ash took her first steps in her new prosthesis. Although she still used the crutch while walking on the split-belt instrumented treadmill in the BADER lab, she could already tell a difference.
“Just being in the bikini leg, I can move. I can sit. When I would
Among her goals: to be able to walk more than two miles and handle the yard work on her Nottingham, Pennsylvania, property without having to rely on an arm crutch. And to have a prosthesis that could withstand her lugging firewood and going up and down the stairs without breaking—something that hap- pened more than once.
She sought out Prof. Steven J. Stanhope after hearing about the BADER Consortium from her aunt who works at UD. BADER supports orthopedic research to help service members who have lost all or part of a limb to return to optimal function.
Stanhope put her in contact with John Horne, owner of Inde- pendence Prosthetics-Orthotics, who is teaming up with BADER to develop a clinic to help civilian patients who want to reach their highest level of mobility.
The clinic, which has seen a handful of patients so far, offers a collaboration point between clinicians, patients and researchers, with the goal of translating research and directly impacting patient care.
“We want to help patients who demand the highest level of function,” said Stanhope, director of the BADER Consortium. “We have a broad range of people helping us to reach that goal.”
For Ash, the BADER Clinic arranged for Oklahoma City prosthetist Jay Martin to visit and demonstrate the casting and fabrication of his so-called “bikini hip,” the lightweight hip socket device he created to give higher-level amputees more control and comfort.
Ash had her right leg ampu- tated when she was 4 years old after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. She has a hip disarticula- tion amputation, which means she doesn’t have a hip, knee or ankle joints. Only about 1 to 2 percent of all patients with a prosthesis have a higher-level amputation like her.
+ CheckoutourResearch&DiscoveryplaylistonUDYouTubeto
see how our students are working with John Horne to assist amputees.
Day 1: Ashly Ash listens and waits for a chance at a more mobile life.
Day 1: Jay Martin begins casting of a
“bikini hip” prosthesis at Independence Day 2: Adjustments of Prosthetics-Orthotics. new prosthesis.
Wow! — Ashly Ash
EVAN KRAPE
EVAN KRAPE
EVAN KRAPE