Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT), Okmulgee, orthotic and prosthetic instructor Mike Madden, CPO, said he offered O&P technology students in his classroom a chance to work with a real individual with an amputation instead of a plaster model after civil engineering technologies student Clint Condren walked into his office asking about the O&P program. Condren had lost his left hand in an accident years ago.
From left: Condren is shown wearing one of his prostheses, with O&P technology students Madelyn Ward and Randi Johnson. Photograph courtesy of Rex Daugherty.
“Creating a prosthesis for a real patient was a lesson in operating as if being employed in a clinic,” said student Randi Johnson. “It was a very humbling experience to work with someone who didn’t have a hand. We all felt honored to help Clint be able to do many of the activities he had enjoyed before his accident.”
Madden said the students went through extensive processes of diagnosing Condren’s needs by asking him about the ways he would use his prosthesis in his life, in his classes, and in his future career in civil engineering. Then they started working competitively to develop the best possible prosthesis for Condren, fabricated them and fit them to his arm.
“For Clint, the students made a self-suspending design, so he wouldn’t need a lot of straps to hold the prosthesis on-they suspended the prosthesis off the bones on his elbow,” said Madden. “Then they added a terminal device-a work hook-on the end, with special adaptors for holding a nail, holding a knife-blade, a chisel, a broom, carrying a bucket. Clint wanted the outside to be a black, high-tech carbon fiber, and then the students found some funny fabrics to put on the inside. Then they put a wrist unit on the end, put the correct angles in it, bonded it, and did the final laminations.”
Condren spent several days practicing using each prosthesis, and then determined the best three prostheses that fit his needs. “Now I’m able to build a fence while holding a nail with my prosthetic ‘fingers,’ and pick up a bucket to feed the cattle,” Condren said. “The way the prostheses fit onto my arm above the elbow, they hold very snugly and don’t hurt at all-I can even swing from a tree limb because the prosthesis can hold my body weight.”
Condren’s civil engineering technology instructor, Roger Taylor, says Condren has also increased his ability to perform even more tasks in his surveying class through using the prosthetic arm.
Editor’s note: This story has been adapted from materials provided by Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology.
