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Tag: prosthetics

  • Montgomery Co. officer who lost both legs plans return to police department and football field – WTOP News

    Montgomery Co. officer who lost both legs plans return to police department and football field – WTOP News

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    The Montgomery County police sergeant who was struck by a reckless driver in October 2023, leading to the amputation of both his legs, is eying a return to police work in the next couple months.

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    Montgomery Co. officer who lost both legs hopes to make a difference in the department

    The Montgomery County police sergeant who was struck by a reckless driver last year, leading to the amputation of both his legs, is eyeing a return to the police force in the next couple of months.

    On the morning of Oct. 18, 2023, Patrick Kepp was trying to stop 19-year-old Raphael Mayorga, of Frederick, Maryland, who was suspected of driving drunk and trying to “provoke” officers into a chase on Interstate 270. Kepp was deploying “stop sticks” to deflate the teen’s tires when police say Mayorga intentionally struck him.

    Now, eight months and 10 surgeries later, Kepp, 37, is nearly ready to rejoin the force, and make college football history as well.

    On top of his job at the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD), Kepp works as a line judge in Division 1 college football. He’s on track to return for his first game in the fall for either the Coastal Athletic Association, Ivy League or Patriot League Conference, and would become the first official with prosthetic legs to officiate a Division 1 game.

    Kepp credits the personnel at Baltimore’s Shock Trauma Center and rehab staff at Walter Reed Naval Medical in Bethesda with saving his life, and giving him the chance to work again — something he’s been striving for since the October crash.

    “Just after the incident, I would sit with Pat in the hospital and all he spoke about was getting back to work and how he was making it back to the football field,” said Lt. Brendon Johnston with MCPD, who also officiates college football.

    Kepp left Shock Trauma in December for a long-term rehab program at Walter Reed. There, Kepp’s weekday routine includes weight and motion therapy, along with various swimming exercises.

    “I’m involved with a special group of people who’ve experienced similar injuries and we feed off of each other during our rehab sessions,” Kepp told WTOP.

    Patrick Kepp is in long term physical rehabilitation after having both legs amputated.
    (Courtesy Patrick Kepp)

    Courtesy Patrick Kepp

    Patrick Kepp has been working hard to learn to use prosthetics and is seen here working on his rehabilitation.
    (Courtesy Patrick Kepp)

    Courtesy Patrick Kepp

    Patrick Kepp exercises, working on his physical rehabilitation after he had both legs amputated after a crash in October 2023.
    (Courtesy Patrick Kepp)

    Courtesy Patrick Kepp

    Kepp is also on track to return for his first game in the fall and would become the first official with prosthetic legs to officiate a Division 1 game.
    (Courtesy Patrick Kepp)

    Courtesy Patrick Kepp

    Patrick Kepp also works as a line judge in Division 1 college football. He is seen in the background of this football game.
    (Courtesy Patrick Kepp)

    Courtesy Patrick Kepp

    Headshot for Sergeant Patrick Kepp, who had both legs amputated after a crash in October 2023.
    (Courtesy Patrick Kepp)

    Courtesy Patrick Kepp

    At the end of the day, he returns back to his Walter Reed on-base residence, where he’ll cook and do additional private workouts. On the weekends, Kepp spends his time at his Frederick County home and visits with his parents while closely following the Baltimore Orioles and Ravens.

    While some may not clearly remember the moments directly following a traumatic injury, Kepp said he can still recall being taken out of his vehicle surrounded by a pool of blood. He thought to himself that he’s never flown in a medevac helicopter.

    Many didn’t think Kepp would survive.

    “I knew things were bad when I was flying to Shock Trauma in Baltimore, but I just kept focusing on the fact I was still alive,” he said.

    However, dealing with the reality of losing both legs will be a lifelong battle.

    “Losing one leg is bad enough, but losing both legs has been a very difficult things to grasp,” he said.

    While he doesn’t say he has three jobs, he started to play a role off the field and outside his typical duties as a police officer — inspiring others.

    “I’ve met with potential police recruits and people interested in law enforcement. But most off all, it’s great to talk with people who are sometimes down in life and I’m able to bring a positive outlook for them and help them turn things around, like I’m trying to do with myself.”

    Kepp’s return to MCPD will be one of the most anticipated dates on his calendar, along with taking a step on the field for his first officiating assignment of the upcoming college football season.

    However, Kepp said, “like my law enforcement job, I work at a pretty high level in Division 1 football and I’m not going to go out there if I’m not ready.”

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Steve Dresner

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  • Motivated by his own supporters, Md. man gives back to DC-area amputee community – WTOP News

    Motivated by his own supporters, Md. man gives back to DC-area amputee community – WTOP News

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    April is Limb Loss Awareness Month, known as a time to recognize the millions of people living with limb loss and limb difference. But Greg Hourigan’s efforts to support others with limb losses extend beyond a few weeks of the year.

    Greg Hourigan meets with other amputees at Top Golf.
    (Courtesy Greg Hourigan)

    Courtesy Greg Hourigan

    Greg Hourigan plays golf.
    (Courtesy Greg Hourigan)

    Courtesy Greg Hourigan

    Greg Hourigan and fellow amputees at a rehabilitation clinic.
    (Courtesy Greg Hourigan)

    Courtesy Greg Hourigan

    Greg Hourigan poses for a photo at a physical therapy session.
    (Courtesy Greg Hourigan)

    Courtesy Greg Hourigan

    In June 2012, Greg Hourigan started aggressive chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which he described as a “pretty nasty leukemia.”

    In the middle of that chemotherapy treatment, he developed a bacterial infection. He got sepsis, and then went into septic shock. Ultimately, both of his legs had to be amputated.

    Soon thereafter, Hourigan’s life came to a halt. He had to set new boundaries and figure out what goals he wanted to achieve, and how to adjust to a new normal.

    At first, he said, that took getting used to. Sometimes, he’d forget he couldn’t get out of bed without prosthetics.

    But with the help of prosthetics and physical therapists, and the support of family and other D.C.-area amputees, Hourigan is fully immersed in his new reality. He can garden, ride his bike, swim in the ocean and hike along uneven terrain. He mows the lawn of his Rockville, Maryland, home, walks the dog and dances with his wife.

    Now, he’s inspiring others with similar life experiences to find a support system, get out there and stay active.

    April is Limb Loss Awareness Month, known as a time to recognize the millions of people living with limb loss and limb difference. A study released in February found there are a combined 5.7 million people in the U.S. living with limb loss or limb difference, Hourigan told WTOP.

    But Hourigan’s efforts to support others with limb losses extend beyond a few weeks of the year.

    “It starts with just coming to the realization that you’ve lost your limbs, and that life is going to be different,” Hourigan said. “And that there’s always a lot of help along the way from different types of people.”

    About a month after getting his legs amputated, Hourigan was inspired by some of those people. As he was getting fitted for prosthetics at a rehab center, a friend walked in and mentioned a support group for amputees.

    He was one of a handful of people to join the group. But now, years later, the group has grown to include 50 or 60 people, Hourigan said. They meet each month on a Thursday. Sometimes there are guest speakers.

    Group members also go sailing or to Top Golf.

    “All of a sudden, you’re not like you were,” Hourigan said. “No questions are stupid.”

    Hourigan reminds people of that routinely. Whether it’s about skin care, or finding the right prosthetics, he’s working to make sure other amputees know they’re not alone.

    “People start to realize how important it is to be around people in the same situations that you’re in, and they look at you and they see, ‘Hey, at least these guys are kind of normal.’ It gives encouragement to a lot of people, it really does,” Hourigan said.

    Outside of the group, Hourigan spends time advocating for better prosthetic laws, specifically regarding insurance companies covering prosthetics for amputees. The Maryland General Assembly, he said, recently passed legislation to enable someone to be eligible for more than one pair of prosthetics.

    In September, he’ll be participating in a 5K Run Walk and Wheel to raise money for amputee awareness.

    And through his prosthetic company, he mentors Ukrainian soldiers who come to Maryland to get prosthetics.

    “It’s kind of cool how their attitudes change when they see me walking in and going up and down stairs and hear my stories,” Hourigan said.

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Scott Gelman

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  • Fairfax Co. students use AI to create an algorithm for classifying brain signals – WTOP News

    Fairfax Co. students use AI to create an algorithm for classifying brain signals – WTOP News

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    Two Fairfax County students used AI to create an algorithm that can be used to classify EEG signals, which can be used to control prosthetics.

    Fairfax County students Gautham Ramachandran and Sriram Nalini used AI to create an algorithm that can be used to classify EEG signals, which can be used to control prosthetics. (Courtesy Gautham Ramachandran)

    About seven months ago, Chantilly High School student Gautham Ramachandran came across a man in a wheelchair on the sidewalk.

    Ramachandran said he was inspired by the man who was navigating life without his legs. Ramachandran approached him, and they exchanged pleasantries.

    In the days that followed, Ramachandran reflected on his desire to help people like the man he spoke to.

    “I was wrestling with a pressing question: How can we leverage technology to provide autonomy and empower individuals like him?” he said.

    Ramachandran and his classmate, Sriram Nalini, realized the answer to that question involved artificial intelligence. They used AI to create an algorithm that can be used to classify electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, which can be used to control prosthetics.

    “It’s a key to a new realm of interaction, where your thoughts seamlessly translate into action; where technology is an invisible, intuitive extension of the human experience,” Ramachandran told WTOP.

    Ramachandran has been programming since he was in third grade, and used to create video games using HTML and JavaScript. Instead of playing the video games, though, he said he “got addicted to creating them,” and spent hours coding.

    When he was in middle school, Ramachandran said he released a game on the platform Steam. But none of that compared to his latest efforts.

    Ramachandran said he and Nalini considered different types of available technology for analyzing brain signals. In some cases, patients get implants, which Ramachandran said are innovative but “require a level of invasiveness that isn’t really ideal for everyone.”

    A traditional EEG headset is another alternative, but Ramachandran said those are complicated “due to needing so many electrodes, and frankly, not as accurate as we’d hope, especially when it comes to classifying movements.”

    So, the two students took the EEG technology and streamlined it.

    “We basically used this AI algorithm as the embodiment for this vision,” Ramachandran said. “It’s designed to work with just a handful of electrodes.”

    The innovation is helping with accuracy, he said. Previously, the maximum accuracy he’s seen is 98%, “which means that there’s going to be two mistakes out of every 100 movements.”

    With the help of the algorithm, Ramachandran said there’s “classification accuracy that reaches up to the zenith, up to 100% accuracy, which is really not just an improvement, it’s a revolution.”

    The technology, Ramachandran said, “allows people to basically control prosthetics or control devices using their brain signals.”

    The pair published their findings in a research paper.

    Their work, he said, helps “provide a cost-effective solution to prosthetics.”

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Scott Gelman

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  • Halfmoon company develops technology to 3D print prosthetics

    Halfmoon company develops technology to 3D print prosthetics

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    HALFMOON, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Precision Valve & Automation (PVA) in Halfmoon is filled  with high-tech robots and machinery, including a 3D printer that builds something quite simple, yet life changing.

    Tony Hynes, PVA’s CEO explained, “This would attach to someone who’s lost their limb below the knee. You can print this, reinforce it, build someone a leg, and it will meet the same standard as prosthetic hardware.”

    Hynes has developed the technology behind 3D printed prosthetics. Normally, it would take six to eight weeks to build something similar, and it’s usually done by hand. His printer can do the job in three hours. Reinforced with fiberglass wrap, the piece has already been put to the test in clinical settings.

    Rick Noel, the director of PVA Med added, “The patient was quite amazed because they’ve been a prosthetic patient for several decades. They felt like this was one of the more comfortable ones.”

    The need for the technology is huge and not just in the U.S.

    “There are about 100,000 amputees in Ukraine already, 20% of those are children,” Hynes said.

    Hynes believes, as global conflicts grow abroad, the 3D machine is ground zero for an inexpensive and efficient solution that can help treat amputees. “We want to do our part. The need is extraordinary. Now we have wars in Gaza where you’ll see an extraordinary number of amputees,” he said.

    Through donations, PVA has committed to building 30 printers to send overseas to Ukraine. PVA will send over two of those machines per month. Initially, the non-profit group Superhumans Center in Lviv, Ukraine, will get the machines and handle the training with the help of Northwell Health.

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    Trishna Begam

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  • Ottobock Partners With Eurovision Star Sam Ryder to Create Empowering Anthem Celebrating Stories From Disability Community

    Ottobock Partners With Eurovision Star Sam Ryder to Create Empowering Anthem Celebrating Stories From Disability Community

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    BURLINGTON, Ontario, June 15, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    On June 13, global health-tech brand Ottobock launched #IAmAMountain: a global initiative destined to unite and empower people with disabilities across the world via the life-celebrating anthem ‘Mountain,’ written specifically for the campaign by Eurovision’s Sam Ryder.

    Presented for the first time at the grand finale of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest on May 13 in Liverpool, Sam Ryder’s “Mountain” honours the fearlessness it takes to get to the other side of adversity. Dubbed by many as the highlight of the evening, Sam Ryder performed alongside Queen drummer Roger Taylor as performers with disabilities took the stage and made Eurovision history in front of over 160M viewers.

    When writing “Mountain” for this campaign, Sam Ryder was inspired by the personal stories of people who use Ottobock orthotic, prosthetic, and mobility devices. He comments, “The song ‘Mountain’ celebrates perseverance and is intended to give courage to all who need it. It is all about growing in the face of loss, grief, or darkness, and becoming as strong as a mountain. And then looking back with pride and new zest for life on how you have overcome what life has thrown in your way.” 

    The #IAmAMountain campaign brings together stories from 26 Ottobock users from 14 countries. As part of the initiative, they are sharing their personal moments on social media – including the highs and lows. Alongside Sam Ryder, they will be inviting everyone to join in the conversation by asking, “What have you overcome?” – calling for others to share their personal experiences under the hashtag #IAmAMountain.

    Martin Böhm, Ottobock’s Chief Experience Officer, said, “Sam Ryder is the perfect voice and partner for our campaign. His involvement will help our community overcome so many barriers, just as his Eurovision performance was a moment of real visibility and representation for people with disabilities in front of an audience of millions. We will be taking this approach to the next level with our #IAmAMountain campaign. By inviting people with disabilities to share their stories, we hope to change society’s perception and instead, celebrate all the things that are possible in life. This is exactly what Ottobock is all about.”

    Ottobock looks forward to bringing more visibility and representation in mainstream media through the #IAmAMountain campaign and beyond.

    Learn more about Sam Ryder.

    About Ottobock

    For more than 100 years, Ottobock has been developing innovative treatment solutions for people with reduced mobility. Ottobock works to improve freedom of movement and quality of life and helps people achieve greater independence. This is supported by more than 9,000 employees. Through their ability to innovate, their outstanding technical solutions and services in the fields of Prosthetics, Orthotics, NeuroMobility and Patient Care, they enable people in 135 countries to live their lives in the way they want to. Founded in 1919, the company continues to set new standards and drive the digitalisation of the industry – together with its partners, medical supply companies and research institutions – as the global market leader in wearable human bionics. Since 2018, Ottobock has been applying its expertise in biomechanics to exoskeletons for ergonomic workplaces. The international activities of the company are coordinated from its headquarters in Duderstadt in Lower Saxony in Germany. Ottobock has been supporting the Paralympic Games with its technical know-how since 1988. The Canadian Ottobock branch is located in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.

    Source: Ottobock North America

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