Photograph courtesy of Ohio Willow Wood.
A multidisciplinary research team led by Rebecca Lunn, PhD, of the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, Department of Civil Engineering, in collaboration with Margrit Meier, CPO, PhD, of the University of Strathclyde National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics, has been awarded an 18-month £200,000 (US $289,630) grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Swindon, England, to develop research proposals on how to improve the biological and mechanical performance of prosthetic limbs. According to a press release on the University of Strathclyde website, the grant builds on the results of a £6,000 (US $8,688) feasibility study carried out by Lunn and Meier.
The research team-comprised of microbiologists, mathematicians, physicists, and engineers from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, and the University of Glasgow, Scotland-is examining bacterial and other microbial populations in prosthetic liners, with the long-range goal of designing new prosthetic technologies, including antimicrobial liner materials, according to a Strathclyde news release. The study will collect data on the microbial populations present in a number of liners from users who have experienced skin infections and those who haven’t had any problems. Experts will image and compare the size and location of microbial populations using electron microscopy, model the growth of bacteria, and investigate the behavior of bacteria in porous materials.
“Sockets are designed for structural performance and to stop chaffing,” Lunn was quoted as saying, “but the tight connection between the prosthesis and the limb provides ideal conditions for bacterial growth.”
Meier added, “Even if a person keeps their prosthetic socket meticulously clean, it is inevitable that bacteria will settle over its lifetime. This can lead to infection and, ultimately, a breakdown of the whole prosthetic system. Infections negatively impact the use of the prosthesis and are highly detrimental to their owners’ quality of life.”
According to Strathclyde, approximately half of the 62,000 people living with limb loss in the United Kingdom are affected by skin infections or irritation thought to be caused by bacteria in the prosthetic liners. Further, it is estimated that every year around 4,500 new lower-limb amputations occur within the United Kingdom, of which the majority will be fitted with a prosthetic liner.
“With conservative estimates suggesting there are more than 10 million people in the world living with limb loss, developing comfortable, cheap, and safe prosthetic limbs has major social and economic impacts,” Meier said.
