replies for the ultimate knee

replies for the ultimate knee

S. Yoshino

1/9/2001

Hi, here are the replies relating to the Ultimate Knee by
Orthoeurope. Kinda mixed reviews, but sounds promising. Thanks to all
who
replied. Stephanie----------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have tried the Ultimate knee on three patients: one it was too long for
(it is quite a long unit), one couldn't get to track smoothly, one LOVED
it.
So, kind of a mixed bag. One the third patient, he was a many year Mauch
user and then a Total knee user for the last two years. This was the
first
time for walking down stairs step over step, which he had never been able
to
master with a Mauch.
______________________________________________________________________
Hello Stephanie

I do care out here. I am the designer of the knee, as well as now
practising
prosthetist fitting these. What would you like to know?

Yours Sincerely,
Jacob Boender
Research Prosthetist
ex Design Manager
____________________________________________________________________________

While I have never used one, the feedback I have received is as follows...

The product is outstanding when it works. Repairs are needed often, done
overseas, and take forever. Support from OE is almost nonexistent.

The number of times I tried to reach them to place an order all I got was
an
answering machine and never a returned call.
_______________________________________________________________________


As a FORMER employee of Orthoenterprises sister company (Orthopaedic
Services in the UK) I can say it is easily the best knee I have used. It
has
essentially the same functionality as a Mauch/Catech with some
differences.

Whereas the Mauch unit is essentially locked until an extention moment is
applied by loading the toe thereby freeing the unit to swing, the Ultimate
knee is essentially permanently in swing phase until the heel is
loaded. On
loading the heel the unit can be set to, either, yield or lock according
to
preference. If set to yield mode, the rate at which it yields can be
selected as in the Mauch.

There is a CD-ROM available for those interested in trying the
knee. Contact

our local distributor. They should be able to help.

Hope this helps

_________________________________________________________________________
The knee is safe and performs well. However, there is a patient learning
curve and if your patient is not good at learning how to use a prosthetic
knee all over, this will not be a good choice.

________________________________________________________________________
i plan on using the Ultimate Knee on my next leg. (i make my own in my
garage).
however i presently am using the Century 2001 i like it, but it still
disengages some times and i fall. the salesman that came to my shop was
wearing and using the Ultimate knee and i liked what i saw. now i have to
use
it and really check it out, but it does look promising to me for what i
want.
i am active and like to move around a lot and not have to worry about
falling.
if you would like my thoughts on the knee after i wear it a while let me
know..
I have tried the Ultimate knee on three patients: one it was too long for
(it is quite a long unit), one couldn't get to track smoothly, one LOVED
it.
So, kind of a mixed bag. One the third patient, he was a many year Mauch
user and then a Total knee user for the last two years. This was the
first
time for walking down stairs step over step, which he had never been able
to
master with a Mauch.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

To those that are still interested, I also spoke to some prosthetists on
the phone who reported problems . He stated that it
supposibly has been taken care of but it hasn't been long since the
problems were hopefully fixed.

~