Working on a new prosthetic arm

[Marion]

Will do, my friend! 
Hows your trip going?

Will be posting some awesome pictures in a few days! Trip so far has been best trip yet to Iceland! Already planning our return trip! Looking forward to seeing the new arm!

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[Bionic]

2 minutes ago, The Jerkman said:

Will be posting some awesome pictures in a few days! Trip so far has been best trip yet to Iceland! Already planning our return trip! Looking forward to seeing the new arm!

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Great to hear pal, did you do the 1500 mile round trip, or whatever its called? I love scenic pics, hoping to see some.  As far as the arm stuff, there will be two arm’s! Should be cool.

[Marion]

Great to hear pal, did you do the 1500 mile round trip, or whatever its called? I love scenic pics, hoping to see some.  As far as the arm stuff, there will be two arm’s! Should be cool.

Yup the Ring road! Still another couple days till we get back to Reykjavik. And sick! Looking forward to seeing the two new arms!

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[Bionic]

3 minutes ago, The Jerkman said:

Yup the Ring road! Still another couple days till we get back to Reykjavik. And sick! Looking forward to seeing the two new arms!

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Good stuff man, safe travels!

[Bionic]

Ok, so today was the start of the research study.  Today we molded a new cast which they build a final socket out of, for the new arm.  I wear a liner that uses a locking pin to hold the arm on...this new arm is held on by skin contact, so the dents you see in the casting over my residual limb is actually for load bearing purposes to hold, and keep the arm on.  I go back Tuesday to see what progress is made. Its a little weird to post a pic like this, but whatever, it is what it is....

[Jdubs]

Nice!  Does the new "connection" allow for greater load bearing use or something else?  

[Dom]

On 2/21/2019 at 5:46 PM, Bionic said:

Yes, absolutely! I woukd be thrilled to help you out in anyway I can.  May I ask what exactly you need? Had you asked me about shoes by chance? If so, I totally forgot until NOW.  

Yes I did ask if you knew anyone that had ever tried the Enko walking/running shoes.I was thinking that they may help me being I am still not full weight bearing and walk on the ball of my foot.My Surgeon is still not sure what the next surgery steps will be.

[Bionic]

5 minutes ago, Dom said:

Yes I did ask if you knew anyone that had ever tried the Enko walking/running shoes.I was thinking that they may help me being I am still not full weight bearing and walk on the ball of my foot.My Surgeon is still not sure what the next surgery steps will be.

I will get you an answer ASAP, I promise, sorry about that!

[Bionic]

1 hour ago, Jdubs said:

Nice!  Does the new "connection" allow for greater load bearing use or something else?  

My gut says my current silicone liner allows for my load before the risk of pipping off.  However, a WELL formed socket of this kind, can support an very adequate amount of suspensed weight.  With all seriousness, just the weight of the hand itself that attaches to the fake arm is an issue for a lot of users, some actually choose a specific hand over another solely on its weight.  Point is, with that in mind, these skin type sockets will hold more than enough weight.  We actually had a tricky time removing that cast that is pictured, and it was still slightly pliable.  My skin actually felt rope burn haha.

[crappyice]

My gut says my current silicone liner allows for my load before the risk of pipping off.  However, a WELL formed socket of this kind, can support an very adequate amount of suspensed weight.  With all seriousness, just the weight of the hand itself that attaches to the fake arm is an issue for a lot of users, some actually choose a specific hand over another solely on its weight.  Point is, with that in mind, these skin type sockets will hold more than enough weight.  We actually had a tricky time removing that cast that is pictured, and it was still slightly pliable.  My skin actually felt rope burn haha.

Truly fascinating...thank you again for continuing to share your journey.


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[Bionic]

31 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Truly fascinating...thank you again for continuing to share your journey.


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You’re welcome! As long as it seems to be interested in, I will keep sharing, should get interesting very soon! Glad you enjoy it

[Bionic]

4 hours ago, Jdubs said:

Nice!  Does the new "connection" allow for greater load bearing use or something else?  

I forgot to mention that, with this type of socket, you pull your arm in with a piece of fabric.  Where you pull your arm in from has a special check valve that does not allow air back into the socket, this gives a good vaccum suction to kee the prosthesis on.  Also, with this skin fit style socket, he believes that he can get me eating/drinking WITH the fake arm! This is such a basic task, and compared to me running chainsaws, or something of that caliber, might make eating sound not so special....I wish I could use the fake arm to feed myself, or drink a glass of water with it, but I just do not have that range of motion with the liner type socket I use currently, in fact I have never been able to eat with my prosthetic’s!  VERY excited to see what this guy can do.  He has never built me an arm, he was hired after my current arm was completed, and I hear he a magician with fitting these skin fit sockets! He said he might even add a pinch of angle to the fake arm itself to get the hand closer to my mouth.  Can’t wait!

[Bionic]

4 hours ago, Dom said:

Yes I did ask if you knew anyone that had ever tried the Enko walking/running shoes.I was thinking that they may help me being I am still not full weight bearing and walk on the ball of my foot.My Surgeon is still not sure what the next surgery steps will be.

I texted the one prosthetist, she has not heard of Enko shoes, but I will ask another.

[Bionic]

I had another appointment for the research study today.  Today I performed some tasks for the company to study how I use my prosthesis that I currently wear.  I had tasks such as buttoning a shirt, putting on socks, turning a doorknob, and opening the door, holding and dialing on my cellphone, tieing my shoes, etc...

this coming Tuesday, I go back for the socket they casted me for in the previous post.  At this stage he will have a plastic molded socket, I will put it on, and he will heat it up, and adjust it to wear it is most comfortable, and able to hold weight.  Should be fun, I can’t wait.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Does the hand have a "governor" of sorts? Im curious how much pressure it can apply? Its amazing how you can handle things like eggs with it

[Bionic]

2 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Does the hand have a "governor" of sorts? Im curious how much pressure it can apply? Its amazing how you can handle things like eggs with it

Well it has a max grip force of 70 newtons which in pounds is 15.74 lbs of pinch grip. May not sound like much, but it is the firmest grasping hand I have tried, and I have tried practically all of them as far as I am aware.  The amount of pressure applied is dictated by how firm I fire my muscle, so to grip eggs in this situation, I would fire my muscle lightly.  I am so in tune with this arm/hand that I just know how fast/slow/strong/light of a muscle fire is right for the job.  Lots and lots of use is pretty much everyday, its essentially involuntary practicing.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Amazing.

[Bionic]

Glad you’re enjoying the info 

[Bionic]

Update: had a visit with my prosthetist’s office this afternoon.  Today was the second step of a new arm build.  In the previous post, I posted a few pics of my arm in a casting material, which as said gives them an actual 3D diagram of my arm for the use in constructing the socket.  Today I was there to test fit the first rough draft socket, that they made from plastic.  What happens is, they filled that last casting up with a solidifying liquid of some sort, then as it hardens they insert s metal rod.  After that, the casting is cut off the hardened liquid that it was filled with....so NOW they have a perfect replica of my real arm, except it had a post sticking out of it, pretty much a lollipop.  You follow? Now, they take a sheet of flat plastic, and heat it up, and drape it over the arm “lollipop”, that is being held by a bench vise....the plastic is than molded, and vacuum formed over the replica of my arm.  They then cut, and file, etc to the correct shapes, and edges as you will soon see in pics below.  Now that you have a general idea of how it’s made, today I was there to try it on, and wear it.  The prosthetist trimmed the lips/edges accordingly until my arm fit in properly at the mouth.  Once I was able to fully insert my arm, the prosthetist would check for loose areas, and remove the socket, hear it up with a small torch, and bend the socket inward for a more snug of a fit.  That was the general idea of this step in building an arm.  I go back in a couple weeks, and he will have the final socket done if I understood correctly.  The interior electrical components have been ordered, as well, and it sounds as if this arm will be made from carbon fiber.  The great news about this socket, is that I can bend my elbow COMPLETELY, I have full range of motion! That is VERY exciting, I have NEVER had full range of motion in any prosthetic arm ever.  I have always used liners to hold the arm on, which bunch up as you bend your elbow.  This is not at all new socket technology, but this prosthetist is new, and he has 20 yrs of experience in Brooklyn, and he brings a lot of value.  With this new arm, I should be able to use the prosthesis to eat/drink directly from, and not use my sound hand! Big steps today 

[Robhuntandfish]

Would never know the kinda tech out there and what is involved. Interesting stuff for sure and sounds like a whole new range of motion for you to do even more.  Awesome. 

[crappyice]

Congrats on the progress.


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[Marion]

Can't wait to see the finished product!

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[Moho81]

Gonna be an awesome picture of you eating with that prosthesis for the first time EVER!!!!!


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[Bionic]

1 minute ago, Moho81 said:

Gonna be an awesome picture of you eating with that prosthesis for the first time EVER!!!!!


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Hey! I never even thought about that! Dinner thread pics haha, it’ll be great.

[Bionic]

For whoever cares, I had another visit today.  Today’s visit consisted of another check of the modified socket after the changes of last visits visit.  I go for another vist in a couple weeks where it will be an all day hangout, fabricating the definitive socket, and so on.  The electronic components are on order, and due in soon.  I always asked for a trial demo hand to use.  It’s a sick hand, we will see what happens....updates soon