Improving Prosthetic Provision in Rural Communities: Limb Scanning With Caregiver Assistance

Study Summary

When the prosthetic socket of a Veteran with a lower limb amputation no longer fits or is damaged beyond repair, a new prosthetic socket is warranted. The provision of a new socket requires multiple clinical visits which can place a high travel burden and potential pandemic exposure stress on Veterans who live in rural communities far from VA Medical Centers or alternative prosthetic clinics. This research seeks to determine if one of the in-person visits traditionally needed to obtain a well-fitting prosthesis can be performed remotely with the assistance of a helper. The investigators seek to discover if an untrained individual (a helper) can wield inexpensive, easy to use, digital technology to capture the shape of a residual limb to see if it can be used to fabricate a prosthetic socket that fits at least as well as one fabricated by a prosthetist using traditional, hand casting methods in the clinic. The expected result of this research is an evidence-based prosthetic fabrication process that reduces Veteran travel burden while providing a prosthesis that fits at least as well as the current standard-of-care. The upshot is a clear improvement in prosthetic provision for Veterans, particularly for those who live in rural communities. To make this determination, the investigators will perform a between-subject experiment with two specific aims. To determine differences in goodness of fit between the two study sockets, the investigators will use both patient reported outcomes, and measurements of the pressure applied to the distal end of the residual limb. Specific Aim 1: Determine if patient reported outcomes, by subjects wearing a prosthetic socket whose shape was captured with study helper assistance, are at least as good as those reported by subjects wearing a socket whose shape was captured by a prosthetist. The investigators propose to recruit Veterans with a below knee amputation and their study helpers to participate in a human subject experiment. Parti

Primary Outcome

Participants rate the comfort of their socket on an 11-point scale where 0 and 10 represent the most uncomfortable and the most comfortable socket imaginable, respectively.

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• DEVICE Caregiver socket
• DEVICE Prosthetist socket

Study Locations (1)