After losing a leg in an accident 15 years ago, human resource executive Paul Varghese had used two types of prosthetic limbs, including the Jaipur Foot. In December last year, he was implanted with an advanced prosthetic limb which changed his life for better.
“Earlier, I could barely walk a few hundred steps a day. The socket prosthetic led to a lot of a friction often resulting in bleeding,” said Mr. Varghese.
He now uses a prosthetic with a osseointegration technology which allows the amputee to control the limb more intuitively and almost naturally. “Now I walk up to 1,000 steps a day and sometimes I can push myself to take up to 5,000 steps,” he said.
Osseointegration is a radical procedure where a skeletal connection with prosthetics is achieved through a titanium implant in the bone of the amputee. This creates an interface that connects directly to a prosthetic limb. “The resulting bionic leg allows the amputee to control the limb more intuitively, almost naturally,” said orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Aditya Khemka, who along with German prosthetic company Ottobock launched the new technology on Wednesday in Mumbai.
The surgery can be carried out either in one go or in two stages depending on the patient’s condition. Dr. Khemka said, “On an average, the amputee rehabilitation period lasts around two to two-and-a-half months (6 to 10 weeks) after which someone is able to move around like any other abled person. This prosthetic limb will last at least 20 to 25 years. The surgery costs around ₹6 lakh to ₹7 lakh in India, and we are trying to reduce it to ₹1.5 Lakh.”
Bernard O’Keeffe, managing director and Asia Pacific president of Ottobock, said the components used in the prosthetic limb are corrosion resistant and a few of the components are water-proof as well. “This procedure eliminates the risk of suspension of the limb which was found in the older technologies; it naturally takes care of the body weight balance and has potential to create major progress in a reliable and biologically successful manner.”