To MPK manufacturers re: MPK research and patient/researcher 'blinding'...

To MPK manufacturers re: MPK research and patient/researcher 'blinding'...

William Lifford

3/17/2014

Hello colleagues in the MPK manufacturing sector,

I've been reading the AAOP Official Findings of the State-of-the-Science
Conference while working on some patient appeals, and some of the papers
really hammer the body of evidence on microprocessor knees. One of the
biggest problems with study validity seems to be the relative difficulty of
blinding both the test subject and the researcher to the type of knee(s)
used in the study.

Naturally, all of you prosthetic knee manufacturers have an interest in
improving the quality of MPK research -- better quality research leads to
more favorable coverage policies by insurers, which in turn leads to more
MPK knees sold.

Which got me to thinking: Would the major manufacturers of MPK knees
(Ossur, Ottobock, Freedom, Endolite, etc.) be willing to put their
collective minds together and develop a blinding shell that fits all
commercially available MPK knees as well as major mechanical knees such as
Mauch frames? This would be a huge step towards improving the quality of
MPK research.

I imagine this would be a difficult and expensive project, but it certainly
can't be anywhere near as difficult as designing a
microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee (which all of you have done).

Would any of you manufacturers out there be willing to comment on the
feasibility of such a project, and if you agree (or disagree) that it would
be generally useful to furthering the cause of MPK usage for transfemoral
amputees?

I will post a summary of responses if I receive any.

Thanks to all,

William Lifford, CP
Progressive O&P, Inc.
1111 Willis Avenue
Albertson, NY 11784
516-338-8585