| In the twenty-first century, new cutting-edge osseointegration technology is improving quality of life. Osseointegration is a new technique to suspend an implant prosthetic device for individuals with a limb-loss. The science of osseointegration is not clearly understood although there appears to be a special relationship between pure titanium that promotes activation of our bone building cells and bone remodelling. Direct bone-anchored osseointegration to integrate a foreign device into the body without the body rejecting the prosthesis is the new technology lacking knowledge and research clinical cases for human translation. The objective of the case study was to review the science of bone-anchored osseointegration as a limb-salvaging technique and potential translation to humans using a canine model in a well-defined control study. Aims were to enhance knowledge technology, improve mobility, decrease pain to improve quality of life and influence health care practices.;By the year 2050, the projected number of American amputees is expected to reach 3.6 million. Many people depend on artificial limbs to perform their activities of daily living. Often these limbs start developing complications associated with stump-socket designs such as separation from the human tissue, poor fit with repeated fittings, recurrent skin infections, ulcers and pressure sores due to non-uniform pressure distribution over the socket contact area and pain which decreases their mobility. Since 2001, close to 28,500 American troops have been wounded in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Greater than 24,600 of them have survived their injury, the highest survival rate of any war in the history of the United States. Sadly, 700 of these services members have lost at least one limb from amputations. Lower limb amputations are still performed above the knee as not enough bone can be preserved below the knee for prosthesis. Osseointegration with limb-salvaging techniques could enhance mobility and quality of life for those individuals who sacrifice their limbs defending our freedoms. |
