Dear Mr. Marquette.
I am writing a paper on the application of Microprocessors in the health
care industry and all I wanted to do was contact someone that has used
this knee. I have had lots of e-mail traffic and lots of discussions
regarding this knee: but I have yet to hear from one single person that
has fit this knee with success and not one single person has made a
posting to support your claims and you have still not offered one piece
of scientific evidence to support any of your claims.
Let me share with you what I have learned about the Teh Lin knee in the
past few days and was forwarded information from various sources around
the United States.
1. I have a copy of a letter that was sent to me from a certified
practitioner on AOPA letterhead that clearly states that the American
Orthotic and Prosthetic Association clearly disagrees with your
assessment of the Teh Lin knee. The AOPA coding committee has
determined that the DAW knee does not have a microprocessor and
cannot be billed as a microprocessor.
2. I have been forwarded a letter written from the director of computer
sciences at the University of Washington that examined and evaluated
the Teh Lin knee and determined that the Teh Lin knee does not have a
microprocessor in the design of the knee.
3. I have alsocopies of DAW literature that in 2004 claimed that the
knee in question was a microprocessor stance control knee, than in
2005 the same knee no longer was microprocessor stance control. But
according to the manufacture there were no changes to the knee, why
did this knee no longer have stance control if there were no changes
to the knee.
4. I have viewed the DAW web site and received numerous and various
advertisements from DAW. Let=92s review the history of the marketing,
first it was an Integrated Circuit, then it was the Matrix, then it
was a microprocessor and now it is a microcontroller. The name keeps
changing but the technology appears to have stayed the same.
5. You state your system has PROM: this makes no sense: a PROM is a
memory hardware that can be programmed only once yet you promote the
knee learning gait and modifying itself to adjust to the patients
gait. How can a memory system learn and change if it can only be
programmed once?
6. Last but not least, you accuse me of being someone that is attacking
your company and your product and suggest that I may be a competitor
trying to stir things up because of the increase in sales of the SLK
knee. The one thing I have not received yet is one single e-mail from
anyone that has used this knee with success. However, I have now
received over 40 e-mails confirming that since the SLK knee became
available that DAW has failed to produce one single piece of science
or evidence to support the claims about this knee.
Not one single person that has fit your knee has come forward to defend
and support your knee unit. But what is most impressive is on your web
site where you refer to the electronics as a =93Secret Box=94 and then offer
a technical release that has no author listed and the release has nothing
to do with electronics or microprocessors what so ever. Attached are the
links:
http://www.daw-usa.com/SLK2.html
http://www.daw-usa.com/PDFs/TGK-5PS0SLK.TechRelease.pdf
It is obvious that there is something very wrong with this system. DAW
has failed to offer anything other than fancy words and insinuations that
are void of any fact, supporting documentation or specifics.
Then to add insult to the mix, you suggest that the Teh Lin, the company
that makes the knee utilizes =93inaccurate English=94 and does not know the
difference between an integrated circuit and a microprocessor. Let=92s be
serious, if anyone in the world knows the difference between an
integrated circuit, a microprocessor and a microcontroller, it would be
the engineer that makes the product, and it does not matter what language
they are speaking, computer engineer know the difference between an
integrated circuit, a microprocessor, a microcontorller and a secret box.
I find this entire situation to be humorous at best. All I wanted was to
talk to someone that has fit this knee, and not one single person has
stepped forward. There is obviously a significant gap between what is
being presented by Mr. Marquette and the facts.
As for your veiled threats of legal action; this is pedestrian at best.
It is only libelous if the information is knowingly untrue, and frankly
you have offered nothing to contradict the overwhelming facts and
evidence that the Teh Lin knee does not appear to have a microprocessor.
Your own industry association has made a formal declaration that the knee
is NOT a microprocessor and cannot be billed as such. I suggest that DAW
needs to do its homework and offer something more than an e-mail from a
distributor to validate any claims. Even the manufacture of the knee
claims it is not a microprocessor. I believe thou protest too much. If
it was really a microprocessor it would speak for itself, and you Mr.
Marquette are the only one speaking.=20
So, if so many people are fitting this knee, will someone, anyone, PLEASE
make a posting and confirm this.
Until such time, I will continue my paper and focus on microprocessor
knees and leave out the ones with a secret box.
—– Original Message —–
From: “DAW Industries, Inc.”
To: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Re: Microprocessor Knee Assistance Requested
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 17:05:27 -0400
>
> Hey Zack…… first it is important that you realize the purpose
of this
> list serve is for the dissemination of accurate information to aid
> professional practitioners in treating their patients. You at this
point
> have not put any information on this list serve that is accurate.
The
> practitioners are also able to access information on our website
that the
> general population does not have access to. Since your original
posting, I
> have received many e-mails wondering why a student would be so
negative and
> have so much inaccurate information about anything. They wonder if
you are
> not a competitor just trying to stir up controversy due to the
increasing
> number of SLKs being used everyday.
>
> Your statement about talking to me is even more interesting, I
receive
> requests all the time to discuss our products with utilizing
practitioners
> and have never turned anyone down. I invited you to contact me
personally,
> but you did not. I am always available, but you choose to attack
DAW on the
> list serve again.
>
> The most interesting thing that you have written is that you are
now a
> computer science major. A computer science major would surely
notice the
> difference between an IC and a microcontroller and surely with
little
> trouble be able to identify the microcontroller on the internet.
And I am
> sure that you realize that only DAW is using a microcontroller that
not only
> contains a CPU microprocessor, but battery monitoring and RAM and
PROM
> circuitry as well. Since the other manufacturers have so willing
given you
> their proprietary information on their CPUs, you would instantly
realize
> that the microcontroller we use must be the most advanced, since it
is the
> only one being used. And I am sure that you already know that a
> microcontroller came well after the CPUs being used in other knee
units.
>
> So, for the record, the SLK has a Microprocessor contained in a
> Microcontroller. DAW is making this statement officially and anyone
> attempting to suggest this is not true (even on the internet) is
being
> libelous and does DAW irreparable damage and is exposing
himself/herself to
> a libelous lawsuit. DAW is the official representative of Teh Lin
in the
> USA. The only place to get accurate information in English
concerning Teh
> Lin product is from the DAW website. Teh Lin is a Chinese
manufacturer whose
> English is frequently not accurate.
>
> Zack, you state that you are in Southern California. Our
Headquarters is in
> San Diego. Contact me and let’s arrange a meeting, either at my
office or in
> Orange County. I am sure that with your computer background, you
will very
> quickly understand the capabilities and design of the SLK offers
the best
> quality in amputee gait.
–=20
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