• about
• foundation
• contact
• stay informed

Orthocare Innovations Tapped for $1.4 Million in Competitive Research Grants

Oklahoma City, OK, December 17, 2010–Orthocare Innovations has been slated to receive approximately $1.4 million in federal research grants toward three ongoing projects to develop advanced prosthetic-limb technologies.

"Our technical team continues to enjoy tremendous success through the competitive grants process at the NIH and now at the Department of Education as well," commented Orthocare Innovations' CEO, Doug McCormack. "Securing these awards is an important achievement, but the measure of success is the translation of this research into products that will have a positive effect on patient care.  That is what Orthocare Innovations is committed to as an organization."

Advanced Prosthetic Socket

The National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, a division of NIH within the NICHHD, has selected Orthocare to be awarded a Phase II SBIR grant of approximately $771,000 to develop an advanced prosthetic socket system. This system combines two Orthocare technologies to create a prosthetic socket that holds the prosthetic limb on securely and comfortably without the disadvantages of current state-of-the-art sockets.

The most sophisticated sockets currently on the market use a vacuum pump to maintain suction on the residual limb to help hold the prosthesis in place. These vacuum suspension systems not only keep the socket attached, but their negative pressure also can help keep the residual limb healthier. However, these vacuum pumps make a buzzing or humming noise that many patients find socially disruptive and unpleasant, and the pumps have to be adjusted for different activities by pushing buttons or using a handheld remote control.

Orthocare Innovations’ proposed socket system builds on Orthocare Innovations-developed technologies, the Edison™ noiseless, self-adjusting vacuum suspension technology (a first-of-its-kind technology that will enter the market in January 2011), and a computer-controlled system that automatically expands and shrinks to maintain socket fit regardless of the short-term changes in residual-limb volume that amputees experience throughout the day.

ABLE Kids

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Orthocare $183,234 for the Advanced Biofidelic Lower Extremity Kids Prosthesis (ABLE Kids) project. The grant is provided under award number 1R43HD066861-01, supported in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHHD).

In Phase I of the ABLE Kids project, Orthocare researchers will utilize computerized miniature hydraulic systems and advanced control algorithms to create artificial limb components that are small enough for children to wear and that can be adjusted to compensate for changes in growing children’s movement patterns. These systems, whose hydraulic lines are slightly larger than a pencil lead, include technology pioneered at Oak Ridge National Laboratories.

According to the Amputee Coalition of America, more than 30,000 children in the United States alone have limb amputations.

Haptic Feedback for Prosthetics That Feel

The Department of Education has awarded Orthocare a $499,853 Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II research grant for the Haptic Feedback Improvements for Prostheses project to develop and put into clinical practice a haptic (touch-based) feedback system that will give amputees a sense of touch through their prosthetic limb.

The system, supported by grant number H133S100094, will use sensors on the artificial limb to collect data about how much force the limb is putting out. A computerized controller that is built into the limb will then analyze the data and translate it into a pattern of vibrations that tiny machines called actuators will buzz against the wearer's skin. The vibrations, known as haptic feedback, will tell the wearer how much pressure the wearer is exerting through the limb—the more intense the pressure, the more intense the vibrations.

These technologies have the potential to not only keep amputees physically healthier, but to help them live more independent, engaged lives. Children who want to run alongside their friends, arm amputees who want to safely drive a car using an artificial arm, and leg amputees who do not want their limb buzzing during business meetings can all benefit from the devices Orthocare Innovations produces.