The British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists (BAPO) was established to encourage high standards of prosthetic and orthotic practice. It is committed to Continued Professional Development and education to enhance standards of prosthetic and orthotic care. BAPO is the only UK body that represents the interests of prosthetic and orthotic professionals and associate members to their employers, BAPO enjoys the support of a high majority of the profession as members.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Friday, 18 January 2013
Critical Appraisal Skills BAPO Short Course 19 April 2013 Staffordshire University
For further information on the 'Critical Appraisal Skills' BAPO Short Course please follow the link below.
Further information
Further information
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
BAPO Short Course Kinesio Taping 21 & 22 June 2013
For further information on the 'Kinesio Taping' BAPO short course please follow the link below.
Further Information
Further Information
Jeremy Hunt challenges NHS to go paperless by 2018
The NHS should go paperless by 2018 to save billions, improve services and help meet the challenges of an ageing population, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will say today. In a … Read more → - Jeremy Hunt challenges NHS to go paperless by 2018
Outcomes
Responsiveness of the Manchester-Oxford foot questionnaire (MOXFQ) compared with AOFAS, SF-36 and EQ-5D assessments following foot or ankle surgery
J. Dawson, I. Boller, H. Doll, G. Lavis, R. Sharp, P. Cooke, and C. Jenkinson J Bone Joint Surg Br 2012;94-B 215-221
Quote: The responsiveness of the Manchester–Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) was compared with foot/ankle-specific and generic outcome measures used to assess all surgery of the foot and ankle. We recruited 671 consecutive adult patients awaiting foot or ankle surgery, of whom 427 (63.6%) were female, with a mean age of 52.8 years (18 to 89). They independently completed the MOXFQ, Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and EuroQol (EQ-5D) questionnaires pre-operatively and at a mean of nine months (3.8 to 14.4) post-operatively. Foot/ankle surgeons assessed American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores corresponding to four foot/ankle regions. A transition item measured perceived changes in foot/ankle problems post-surgery. Of 628 eligible patients proceeding to surgery, 491 (78%) completed questionnaires and 262 (42%) received clinical assessments both pre- and post-operatively. The regions receiving surgery were: multiple/whole foot in eight (1.3%), ankle/hindfoot in 292 (46.5%), mid-foot in 21 (3.3%), hallux in 196 (31.2%), and lesser toes in 111 (17.7%). Foot/ankle-specific MOXFQ, AOFAS and EQ-5D domains produced larger effect sizes (> 0.8) than any SF-36 domains, suggesting superior responsiveness. In analyses that anchored change in scores and effect sizes to patients' responses to a transition item about their foot/ankle problems, the MOXFQ performed well. The SF-36 and EQ-5D performed poorly. Similar analyses, conducted within foot-region based sub-groups of patients, found that the responsiveness of the MOXFQ was good compared with the AOFAS.
This evidence supports the MOXFQ's suitability for assessing all foot and ankle surgery.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Foot posture is associated with morphometry of the peroneus longus muscle, tibialis anterior tendon, and Achilles tendon
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between foot type and the morphometry of selected muscles and tendons of the lower limb. Sixty-one healthy participants (31 male, 30 female; aged 27.1 ± 8.8 years) underwent gray-scale musculoskeletal ultrasound examination to determine the anterior-posterior (AP) thickness of tibialis anterior, tibialis posterior, and peroneus longus muscles and tendons as well as the Achilles tendon. Foot type was classified based on arch height and footprint measurements. Potentially confounding variables (height, weight, hip and waist circumference, rearfoot and ankle joint range of motion, and levels of physical activity) were also measured. Multiple linear regression models were used to determine the association between foot type with muscle and tendon morphometry accounting for potentially confounding variables. Foot type was significantly and independently associated with AP thickness of the tibialis anterior tendon, peroneus longus muscle, and Achilles tendon, accounting for approximately 7% to 16% of the variation. Flat-arched feet were associated with a thicker tibialis anterior tendon, a thicker peroneus longus muscle, and a thinner Achilles tendon. Foot type is associated with morphometry of tendons that control sagittal plane motion of the rearfoot; and the peroneus longus muscle that controls frontal plane motion of the rearfoot. These findings may be related to differences in tendon loading during gait.
Monday, 14 January 2013
Adaptable prosthetics for amputees
Approximately one in every 1,000 people in the UK is an amputee. Many lose their limbs as the result of tragic accidents or due to active military combat and for some amputees losing a limb is a loss of freedom.
Bryce Dyer (pictured) is part of a team of design engineers and clinicians studying prosthetics at BU’s Design Simulation Research Centre: “Many prosthetic limbs remain unused simply because they can be so uncomfortable over time,” he says.
Fitting a false limb is currently “a bit of a black art” says Dyer. Prosthetists traditionally require decades of experience to do their job successfully and are dependent upon the subjective feedback of patients, with no other method of measuring fit. Additionally, current technology does not allow for changes in volume – patients’ stumps may swell and contract. “It’s like having your feet change size on a daily basis and expecting your shoes to still fit comfortably,” says Dyer.
Led by Professor Siamak Noroozi, the BU team are turning an academic concept into a practical product that could lessen the misery of thousands of amputees.
They are creating a ‘smart socket’ – a lower-limb prosthetic which can adjust itself to fit the changing shape of the limb stump it connects with. The design team say the fit will be so comfortable that amputee servicemen may even be able to return to active combat.
Calling on combined expertise, BU’s School of Design, Engineering and Computing is using artificial intelligence to create a self-learning system that will measure interactions between socket and limb stump during the fitting and wear.
“It is very much at a research and development stage,” says Dyer. Currently the team are also attempting to miniaturise the technology to make it light and portable as well as incorporating wireless technology.
BU scientists have teamed with commercial partners at prosthetics and orthotics supplier Chas A Blatchford & Sons, who work with the Ministry of Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre in Surrey, where injured soldiers are sent following service in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“One of the great things about this industrial partnership is that we will be able to get feedback from the very kind of people we are trying to help,” says Dyer.
With better fitting false limbs, medical costs will fall, say BU designers. Prosthetists will be able to get it right first time and will require less experience to be able to do their job properly. Being agile enough to return to active service is a huge bonus for the rising numbers of amputee soldiers. “It will get them back in the field rather than being retired early or restricted in what they can do,” says Dyer.
Understanding how elite sprinters perform with artificial limbs or “blades” and how different types of prostheses compare is central to another strand of Dyer’s research. “Paralympic running world records are still being set on a near annual basis – the sport hasn’t settled down yet. I’m looking at how individuals should be grouped together or separated – how to give the fairest possible race.”
As well as informing future Paralympic Committees, the research will apply to disability in sport in general. Should someone who’s lost both limbs compete against a runner missing just one limb, for example? And how should technology be categorised, when variations in quality of false limbs may create substantial differences among international athletes?
“Some 30 years ago, it was all about enabling disabled people to take part in sport,” says Dyer. “But now the quality of performances and the sums of money involved are so great, there’s much more at stake. We don’t want to restrict technology but we need to find a way to measure it.”
Source: http://buresearchchronicle.org.uk/theme/technology/adaptable-prosthetics-for-amputees/
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Triple Amputee takes on the Dakar Rally 2013
Ex-paratrooper Tom Neathway lost both legs and an arm in an explosion in Afghanistan but is tackling this grueling 5,000-mile race across South America.
This is the 34th edition of the race, which started in Lima on January 4 and ends in Chile on January 20.
There is the fund-raising side. Tom will be raising hopefully £1million for Help For Heroes and Tedworth House, one of the five recovery centres set up in partnership between the Ministry of Defence, Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.
Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/dakar-rally-2013-preview-tom-1519172#comments
Sunday, 6 January 2013
UK's first hand transplant operation
A former pub landlord from West Yorkshire has become the first person in the UK to have a hand transplant.
Mark Cahill, who is 51, had been unable to use his right hand after it was affected by gout.
This procedure allowed very accurate restoration of nerve structures and is believed to be the first time this approach has been used, surgeons said.
Consultant plastic surgeon Professor Simon Kay, who led the surgical team, said: "This operation is the culmination of a great deal of planning and preparation over the last two years by a team including plastic surgery, transplant medicine and surgery, immunology, psychology, rehabilitation medicine, pharmacy and many other disciplines.
"The team was on standby from the end of November awaiting a suitable donor limb, and the call came just after Christmas.
Doctors say he is making good progress after an eight-hour operation at Leeds General Infirmary.
It is still very early to assess how much control of the hand will be gained - so far he can wiggle his fingers, but has no sense of touch.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20898940
http://news.sky.com/story/1033091/hand-transplant-completed-for-first-time-in-uk
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