above-elbow amputees invited to participate in research

above-elbow amputees invited to participate in research

Brandon R Rohrer

Dear OANDP-L subscribers,

I am seeking to recruit above-elbow amputees to participate in a study of
prosthesis use at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My research
centers around making prostheses easier and more natural to use--particularly
above-elbow prostheses.

I would like to ask your help in contacting candidates for the experiment. If
any of your clients would be able and interested, please pass this email on or
give them my phone number. I have already contacted many of the local clinics
and prosthetists, and, although they have all been very willing to help, we have
had difficulty finding any potential candidates.

Candidates are asked to come to my office for an afternoon and perform a simple
task while wearing a computer-supervised body-powered prosthesis with power
assist. No previous experience with a prosthesis is necessary. Both
body-powered and motorized prosthesis users are eligible. Amputees with any
length below-elbow amputation are eligible (the apparatus is unfortunately not
well suited to elbow disarticulation or shoulder disarticulation amputees).

This research is being conducted in the Newman Laboratory for Biomechanics and
Human Rehabilitation under the supervision of Professor Neville Hogan.
Research on the use of above-elbow prostheses has been conducted here for over
10 years. Previous work performed in this laboratory includes the study and
development of hip prostheses by Prof. Robert Mann in the 1960's. This research
is being funded by National Institue of Health (NIH) under grant number AR40029.

Please pass this information on to anyone who is a potential candidate or who
may know potential candidates. Any help you can give will be greatly
appreciated.


Sincerely,

Brandon Rohrer
Graduate Student Researcher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Room 3-147
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139