Imagine a thought-controlled leg or arm that moves and responds through brain signals sent to the prosthetic, behaving as a regular leg or arm. While prosthetic limbs controlled by thought are still in the trial phase and still years away from hitting the market, prosthetics have made remarkable improvements within the last decade. With Brooke Army Medical Center and the Center for the Intrepid, San Antonio is at the forefront of military medicine. Advancements in prosthetics and burn treatments benefit our wounded warriors and eventually find their way into practice at hospitals around the country. The Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation at the San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC), the Center for Intrepid is a 65,000 sq. ft. Advanced Rehabilitation Center, located with the United States Army Institute of Surgical Research on Joint Base San Antonio–Ft. Sam Houston.
This Think Science presentation is about the latest innovations in prosthetics and military medicine, which have made artificial limbs more efficient and lifelike than ever before.
Panelists:
Joseph Wenke, PhD:
Joseph C. Wenke, PhD arrived at the US Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio as National Research Council Postdoctoral fellow in 2003. The following year he accepted a position at ISR as a Research Physiologist and is now the manager at the Extremity Trauma & Regenerative Medicine Task Area and the Orhtopaedic Extremity Trauma Research Program. His primary research focus is improving outcomes of open fractures. Current and future projects focus on regenerating bone in a contaminated bone defect and organizing clinical studies.
John Fergason, CPO:
John Fergason, CPO, joined the Brooke Army Medical Center, Center for the Intrepid in 2004. Previously a director of the Division of Prosthetics-Orthotics at the University of Washington, Seattle, he contributed significantly to the growth and direction of the curriculum program and oversaw the much anticipated relocation and redesign of the UW Medical Center Prosthetics-Orthotics clinic.
Daniel Stinner, MD:
Dr. Daniel Stinner specializes in Orthopedic Surgery at the San Antonio Medical Center a military treatment facility that is also the only American College of Surgeons verified Level 1 trauma center in the Army. His featured publications include Falls in a Young Active Amputee Population: A Frequent Cause of Rehospitalization?, Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation for Extremity Weakness: A Case Series, Return to Duty After Severe Bilateral Lower Extremity Trauma, and other publications.
Think Science is made possible byThe University of Texas at San Antonio
