A Pittsburgh-based medtech company is changing how amputees select prosthetic feet by allowing them to test different options in real-time.
Humotech , a Pittsburgh-based medtech company, is poised to transform how amputees get fitted for prosthetic feet by enabling them to test different option s in real-time before making an expensive choice.
Christina Kenney knows firsthand how significant this innovation could be.'I was in a tragic car accident right near the zoo,' Kenney said. She became an amputee after a crash in 2013, just after having her daughter.'I think that this was supposed to happen to me. I even embraced being in an accident, and my university at the time, on top of my family and my church community, really supported me and made sure that I was able to have all of the resources,' Kenney said.Her positive spirit allowed her to finish graduate school while in the hospital and learn to walk again with a prosthetic.However, finding the right foot was a challenge. 'I was often told, 'I wish I could give you this foot,' or, 'I wish that we could work with this type of material, but I can't do that for you,'' Kenney said.For many amputees, the choice isn't simple. There are hundreds of options, each very expensive. Kenney has gone through about 10 different setups over the years.'There's different components,' Kenney said. 'Sometimes you need a new socket, and sometimes you need a new foot.'That's where Humotech comes in. Josh Caputo, the company's founder, started the work as a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, and said the goal is to build a better way to choose.'I realized the world doesn't need another prosthetic foot. It needs technologies, solutions, workflows to help improve and streamline data-driven decision-making,' Caputo said.In Humotech's system, patients walk on a device that emulates different commercial feet, choosing the best one for them.'We imagine a world where it's like going to get your eyeglasses. You go to the optometrist, there's the phoropter machine where you can try different lenses, and you find the lens that works best for you,' Caputo said.In a demonstration of the technology, Kenney could immediately feel those changes.'I can feel myself kind of walking heel to toe,' Kenney said.The company has spent years in research and clinical studies, including working with Veterans Affairs, and is now preparing to bring this into real clinical care through mobile clinics.'We're excited to see this translate, and we're looking to do that this summer with our first mobile clinic, and we're excited to see the 'a-ha' moment for a lot of these patients when this service becomes available,' Humotech chief operating officer Candice Caputo said.Better testing could help amputees leave an appointment with more confidence and less fear that they will be stuck with the wrong choice.'I'm hoping that people will leave their prosthetist's office or their physiatrist's office with hope, and feeling more comfortable that we've gotten it right this time,' Kenney said.After years of research, Humotech says that is exactly the point.'We enable that. We make it easy and a quick process,' Josh Caputo said.Humotech is now in its fourth clinical study. It plans to launch its first mobile clinic this summer. Go to humotech.com for more information.
Amputees Prosthetic Foot Content Christina Kenney Humotech Amputee Prosthetic Foot Josh Caputo Year Mobile Clinic Research Patient Office Company Technology Time Different Option More Confidence
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