Developing an Innovative Amputated Limb Simulator to Advance Clinicians’ Skills

Two million people are living with limb loss in the United States and more than 550,000 new amputations occur annually, 50 percent of which involve the lower limb at the transtibial level.^1-3 Most people acquire transtibial amputations from complications of diabetes and vascular disease, which renders the residual limb vulnerable to tissue damage when the limb experiences high forces, particularly during weight bearing activities such as standing, walking, etc.³ This is a concern because the socket of a lower-limb prosthesis is the critical point of force transfer at the residuum and is a major contributor to a prosthesis user’s experiences, quality of life, and clinical outcomes.^4-7

Appropriate socket fit requires clinicians to accurately capture the shape of the residuum. These methods are usually taught by utilizing expensive and variable patient-model learning experiences.⁸ Due to budget and time constraints, educational programs expose students to patient models a few times per course, and they have limited skills practice prior to clinical residency.⁹ Simulation-based training can help students develop skills before they practice on real patients and increase the opportunity to practice these skills independent of a patient model.^10-12 Unfortunately, there is a lack of high-fidelity simulation-based training and an absence of quantified evidence in learning outcomes associated with it in O&P training programs.