How do YOU think someone can:

• Find a job
• Support their family
• Live independently
• Stay active in society

...without being able to afford an artificial arm or leg?

Share your thoughts! Your voice matters in this critical healthcare crisis. 👇

That would be insanely cool to have a bb gun built into your arm transformer style, change my mind.

Hey everyone! I'm working on designing and developing a running blade prosthetic for a project at my university. My goal is to create a blade that can be used both for walking and running, making it accessible for more people by using alternative, cost-effective materials compared to carbon fiber (like the Levitate running blades). I’ve looked into models like the Blatchford Blade XT and Fillauer AllPro as inspiration, but I’m still early in the development process and would really appreciate input from anyone with experience in prosthetics.

Here are a few questions I have:

• What do you like about current running blades?
• What don’t you like about them?
• What factors do you consider most when buying a running blade?
• What improvements would you make to a running blade you’ve used or worked with?
• Do you have any suggestions or extra comments?

Any suggestions or insights would be really helpful! I’m hoping to gather as much information as possible to come up with practical solutions. Thanks a lot for your help!

Does anyone know where I can get dimensions for a base line man/woman to create a prosthetic. Need to create one for my dissertation and need measurements and approximate weights for testing.

I have a fillauer allpro xts. I've been using for a long time now and really like it. It has a bunch of adjustable parts and one of those parts is a heel bumper. It comes in a soft and stiff version. What's the benefit or negative of having a stiffer heel? How does it affect gait ?

I am designing a keyboard for people with a limb difference, such as having one hand, or missing fingers on a hand, or both i guess. And I was wondering if anyone who has such a limb difference has any good insight related to what they want in a keyboard. What is hard about using a standard keyboard and what would you like feature wise. I am not sure if this is the right place to ask, but i wanted to reach out and get any good ideas.

My goal is to make an open source easily accessible and cheap keyboard. Something that can be almost entirely 3D printed and isn't super hard to put together if you want to make it yourself. I think the open sourcing and ease of projects related to accessibility are really important. Putting it behind a cooperate and paywall is like, really evil.

I have a few questions right of the bat.

Track point, mouse sensor, trackball, joystick, touch pad. If you were to have a pointing device built into your keyboard what would you want it to be. Would you want more than one option. What combination of pointers would be good.

Are you familiar with cording. And would you be willing to learn a slightly different method of typing, which is slow at first, but will potentially increase your typing speed and comfort in the long term.

Are you willing to build something yourself, 3d print, screw a few screws in, buy a couple pcbs (pre-flashed firmware or not) and switches, and a battery. Either in a pre-put-together set. Doing your own sourcing. Or whatever way you want to get those necessary materials that cant be printed. Or would you rather buy the keyboard whole, put together. Which would cost more due to labor costs.

I want to guage whether or not people want to make there own keyboard, or more so, if people just want to buy one. or a bit of inbetween.

Im just looking for any feedback about really anything. As i have two hands and a good amount of experience making things, i dont think i am a good judge of what people with one hand want, or people who dont necessarily have the same experiences as me want

If you had a choice? Where would you work as a certified prosthetic/orthotic assistant/orthotic fitter

Hello,

Does anyone recommend a career in prosthetics/orthotics in 2025 and on? What’s the job prospect like? Does the career keeps up with economy?

For current CPO, and veterans in the game, knowing what you know now, would you still pursue this career considering that it’s also a MS degree?

Hi everyone!

Not sure if this is the best place to ask but I’m at a dead end. I am currently a senior in college and my graduation design project is designing prosthetic legs for a cat missing both rear legs. I was wondering if anyone knew of any socks that would fit a small cat. Currently I have found one made by KnitRite but it’s a tad too long for the cat. Any help would be awesome!!

Also the cat is named Lt. Dan for those wondering.

I am considering the ETSU Prosthetics & Orthotics school, they are not currently CAAHEP accredited but they are a candidate for accreditation with NCOPE. The P&O scholarships do not apply since it is not an accredited school, so I'm looking at taking out 20-25k a year in loans. That's 50-60k loans in total for a career that starts out paying 70k a year, and that's hoping I can even find a paid residency. I wanted to try for other schools, but ETSU saying they'd open a program took away the academic common market scholarship to get me instate tuition in another state, so as a TN resident I can either not get scholarships for an unaccredited school, or possibly get scholarships for an accredited school, but now I'd be paying out of state tuition and the scholarships probably wouldn't make such a big dent after all. Why the hell is prosthetics school so expensive???? ETSU is one of the cheaper ones by far too. Just feeling so overwhelmed with the idea that I could invest big money into a degree only for it to not count at all should they not get accredited in time.

Hi! I am a 15 year old high schooler who is very interested in making free 3D prosthetics for people. The problem I am having though is finding people. I have already checked the E-nable website but I am confused on how to make my services available for people who need these 3D printed limbs. Also, I was wondering if there was a way to connect with people from lower funded countries/areas in need of a 3D printed prosthetic, as I know a lot of those citizens aren’t able to obtain prosthetics. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you so much! (Also I am currently based in the US if that makes a difference).

As the title says. I'm 49 and have had several prosthetics since I lost my eye at 2. I'm lucky enough to live in Portland Oregon where Fred Harwin works and I think his prosthetics are second to none. But now I'm looking for something unique and want to make my own.

Hi everyone, I have a question for people with a corneal transplant and wearing a scleral shell, does the eye handle it well? Do you take breaks from the shell during the day to oxygenate the corneal graft? I'm starting the process of my first scleral shell today. Thanks 🙏🙏🤗🤗

New ossür pro carve ski leg and my new K2 ski boot. Hated having to spend $600 on boots when I’m only going to use one.

Hello everyone, I'm currently thinking about developing a hand prosthesis and I'd like to ask questions to someone who already wears one to get the opinion of a user. If you are in this situation, could you leave a comment so that I can contact you? I wouldn't take up much of your time. Thanks in advance

Hello! I have a career question if anyone is able to help! I graduated from college about 2.5 years ago and went straight to working because I was super burnt out on school (just working a regular office job right now). I’m thinking of finally going back to school and want to get into an O&P program but realizing I do not have clinical hours. I have all the courses required (bio, chem, anatomy, various labs, etc) from my undergraduate degree but I didn’t intern or volunteer with any clinics so I don’t have the recommended number of hours or a licensed O&P I can go to for a letter of recommendation.

Am I out of luck to get into this program? Are there ways I can get in clinical/volunteer hours while no longer being a college student (and possibly even while working a regular 9-5)? Do I need to go back to school just to get internship hours? Is it worthwhile to try and apply to the program anyway knowing I don’t have the recommended experience hours or a letter of recommendation from an O&P? Any advice is appreciated!

Hey, as the title says, I’ve got a friend that had cancer in her eye young in life and has had to wear a prosthetic eye. Since Covid hit her she’s lost volume to her prosthetic eye and it looks pushed back compared to the other. Has anyone else had this issue and/or know a good way to solve it? Thanks!

Hi! I’ve recently got let go at my 3D print technician job in Nashville and looking to go back home to nyc, if not nyc then Philly or NJ! I have a degree in game art and design, never put it to good use so I started 3D printing my sculptures and doing fabrication on those and selling them, then eventually got a job as a 3D print tech! While also doing some fabrication with different resins (expoxy, urethane) sculpting and handling some foams, fiberglass, garolite, painting etc. I recently got into or want to get into prosthetics because I really want to help people. My brother recently got a traumatic brain injury (a brain abscess) and is currently paralyzed on the left side after craniotomy surgery. While visiting him in the hospital there was many different types of amputees I’ve seen. Me being into 3D printing was thinking of ways I could use 3D printing to help make different types of prosthetics. And that’s how I got into wanting to get into the prosthetics industry. I also have CAD skills, solidworks, autodesk inventor, 3D sculpting skills, Zbrush, Autodesk maya! Anything I need to know or learn? How do I per-sue a career in prosthetic fabrication? Thank you!

Hello, I am new to this subreddit, but I just needed some help where to find good finger prosthetics

My mom had a machinery accident couple years ago, losing her first digit and a bit of a half of the second digit of her left pointer finger. Me and my siblings have bought a couple of prosthetics for our mom over the years but they were on the cheaper side (were not that well off ) so they would only last about a year before falling apart.

I want to start saving up for a good prosthetic that will last more than a year for her birthday, could I get some recommendations? Thank you!

Does anyone have the issue with the liner that when it gets even a bit warm outside it sweats a lot then slowly starts to slip off? I have been using pin lock system with the suspension sleeve. my residual limb doesn’t like whatever is going on. I get a lot of sores and rips on my skin in the same spots. It’s been an issue ever since I got my first leg last year in mid July. I don’t know what to do. I have a just below the knee amputation on the right leg. You can see in an older post just without the suspension sleeve.

Constant steady loud ring..occasionally a blue light will come on and stay on about 10 seconds then flash and go off..app isn't pulling any codes or dating anything out of the norm..battery is at 94% so not dead.. not overheating cuz 1 I usually walk way more than I did today and 2 no codes thrown.. anyone got any ideas??

Hi there, I am trying to actually make a realistic wearable finger prosthetic for everyday use but I'm really not sure where to start and I feel like you guys possibly could help. I can't afford the ones available (Insurance won't cover it because I was born this way) so I figured I'm crafty/artsy enough to make them. What materials do I need and what would be the steps needed to make them as realistic as possible? Any tutorials would be gladly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I'm thinking overnight because they gotta make them look as real as possible. and make sure they feel real

Hi everyone,

I’m a Design Engineer at Imperial College London, currently working on launching a startup focused on the prosthetics industry. I’m looking to gather insights directly from the community—you—whether you use prosthetics, work in the field, or have expertise in this area.

Our mission is to understand the real challenges, needs, and frustrations of prosthetic users so we can develop meaningful solutions that address those issues. I’d greatly appreciate your thoughts on the following:

1. What are the biggest challenges you face with your prosthetics, whether in terms of functionality, comfort, or affordability?
2. What features or improvements would make prosthetics more comfortable and user-friendly for you?
3. For those with upper limb prosthetics, what factors lead to the high abandonment rates we often hear about?
4. What’s your experience with the cost and accessibility of prosthetics—do you feel the industry serves everyone who needs it?
5. How do you feel about the lifespan and durability of your prosthetic devices? Do they last long enough?
6. What are your thoughts on the innovation and technology currently being applied in the prosthetics industry? Where do you see room for improvement?
7. Is there any specific feedback or advice you’d give to someone designing the next generation of prosthetic devices?

Additionally, if anyone reading this post is available for a more in-depth interview, we would love to hear from you! Please feel free to reach out to us via email at imperialprostheticsinfo@gmail.com to schedule a time.

Your feedback is incredibly valuable and will help shape the future of prosthetics. We look forward to hearing from you!

rBKA, I have had an elevated vacuum prosthetic for about a year now and everything I have been told about it is a lie.

I was told it stops sweating but really it causes excessive sweating leading to skin breakdown. I don’t know if this “it stops sweating” thing is based off reducing pressure lowering temperature, but this small change will equalize quickly and it also means your leg heats up if you lose vacuum.

The whole point of the vacuum is to pull your leg to the size of the prosthetic to to pistoning, but instead the inner liner gets pulled to the outside and your left pistoning inside the inner liner, which does considerably more damage than pistoning outside the liner as the skin is actually rubbing not pressure sores.

Now onto losing vacuum, my liners last for about 2 weeks before the vacuum destroys them compared to 6 months with the passive vacuum. The socket I have now also has a permanent hole somewhere in it that causes it it drain full pressure in about an hour, not bad but a stupid problem to have.

Elevated vacuum has to be the most uncomfortable form of prosthetic there is, I was told it “feel more like a real leg” at the time that seemed like bullshit and I was completely right, what he meant by this is you get much less shock absorption so this thing is now taking years off the life of my knee. I needed thicker liners to hold vacuum (didn’t work) which caused problems with bending my knee, but even with thin liners, a much bigger problem is your leg is so tight in the prosthetic, the skin around my knee can’t move enough for a full bend so I probably lost around 15-20 degrees.

Anyways saying all this I need someone to explain to me how the elevated vacuum for BKAs isnt insurance fraud. I get AKAs don’t have the knee problems and more socket problems but for BKAs. I don’t know what else this is except insurance fraud, I’ve talked to several other BKAs and so far no one recommending me a vacuum has ever used one and just read about it.

It might seem dramatic to jump to fraud but the elevated vacuum has literally nothing good going for it and it was pushed on me reluctantly by 3 prosthetic companies I visited. Insurance companies hear “Bluetooth leg” or some other useless feature and are fine with dumping out the money and these companies know that. I get half this stuff could technically be considered “fraud” with trying to charge you $400 for socks but that just falls within the medical industry’s normal price gouging policies, but this isn’t price gouging, this is them giving me a worse product, telling me it’s better, and charging me more.

I’m really just struggling how such a seemingly bad product is considered “top of the line” in sockets.

Just wondering what other techs cook their LDPE at.

Hello guys I have collected most of the O&P specialized books and uploaded them to this link.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rrRVKtPxYm1xdXy2mOutOhsTKUscP8zI

Content: Orthotics books Prosthetics books Spinal orthoses books Pediatric orthoses books 3D printing o&p books Sport medicine books And other materials

I'm a LBKA of about two years. Due to multiple revisions and minor complications (spitting sutures) I haven't been able to use a prosthesis very much until recently. I'm finally getting my first definitive socket at the end of this month. My prosthetist is asking what kind of cover I want and my initial thought is I don't really want one. My question is: What are the practical considerations that favor using a cover as opposed to "going naked"? At first blush it just seems like a complication and if it doesn't actually improve my gait then why bother?

https://forms.gle/WTSreoodSnhuYd2a8

University Research - Product and Industrial Design. This questionnaire has been developed to help my team and me gain a deeper understanding of the experiences of individuals living with prosthetic limbs. Our goal is to design a product that positively enhances the mental, physical, and social well-being of prosthetic limb users.

Additionally I desperately need people to interview and understand someones journey properly.

My email is, indianagothard@gmail.com if you're interested.