A BIG “Hello Y’all” from South Louisiana!!!
I am a PhD candidate at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary
Medicine. I will be graduating this spring, but I need a little more data
on one of my projects. I hold a certificate in prosthetics from
Northwestern University’s Prosthetics and Orthotics Center in Chicago and
will complete my residency once I graduate in May. I specialize in
fabricating prosthetic legs for animals…a niche field we call veterinary
prosthetics.
With regard to my PhD program, I specialize even more; I have designed and
biomechanically tested implanted prosthetics for horses…and the data are
incredible! I have also designed a simple, economical prosthetic foot for a
horse. It is akin to a SACH or Jaipur foot for humans, but that can be
either 3D printed or easily machined to spec in a shop. It is designed to
promote a more natural gait throughout stance phase in the equine model and
I’ve run FEA analysis on several variations. I call this foot the “Molly
Foot” after Molly the Pony…one of my favorite patients.
However, my last project lacks the needed data and I’d like to ask y’all
for help. I have designed a very simple, anonymous survey that gauges the
opinions of veterinarians/students, O&P professionals/students and the
general public. The survey will aid in determining where the field of
veterinary prosthetics is with regard to related fields and may provide
evidence of the need for more literature, research and standardization.
After I graduate, I plan to write textbooks on veterinary prosthetics for
both O&P professionals and veterinarians; building off of what I find.
*You don’t have to know Anything about this topic! I just want
your Opinion…and I know you have one!*
I’ve had an nice response from the general public, but the response for O&P
students and O&P professionals has been a little low. Will you please take
my survey? It will take *5 minutes or less*! It may raise a few questions
and be an interesting topic of future discussion too. I defend on Thursday,
March 24th at 9:30am CST. If I can get it set up correctly, I will post a
link to a live feed of my defense so if you’re interested in my other
projects and the results of this survey, you can find out!
Please email with any questions. I’ve pasted a link to the survey below.
Thank you in advance for your help!
*https://www.esurveycreator.com/s/veterinaryprosthetics
Warm regards,
*Niki Marie Hansen*
*Veterinary Prosthetist*
*PhD Candidate – May 2016*
*Louisiana State University*
*School of Veterinary Medicine*
*Veterinary Clinical Sciences*
http://www.horsecollaborative.com/making-legs-saving-lives-vet-student-aims-to-revolutionize-equine-prosthetics/
http://hoofcare.blogspot.com/2014/09/amputation-implanted-prosthetic-legs-equine-research-hansen-lsu.html
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/lovesick-cyborg/2014/10/07/building-better-cyborg-horses/#.VrWc3vkrLcc
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/can-bionic-legs-save-horses-4407154
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/horses-broken-legs_us_55b11ee5e4b08f57d5d3e35a
