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We enhance prosthetics for people with limb loss through ground breaking research. Our philosophy is to be at the cutting edge of the interface between technology and clinical care. Though an academic research lab, we have a corporate culture of advancing quickly in our research and being highly productive in terms of immediately benefiting clinical care. Our research is centered around the improvement of care for transtibial amputees and designed to be immediately relevant to clinical practice. Our strong partnerships with prosthetists across the country ensures that we remain focused on the most pressing issues facing amputees. As a research lab within the University of Washington, education is at the core of what we do. The students and research engineers in our lab have diverse backgrounds, allowing students to gain a set of broadly applicable skills, while obtaining expertise in our core areas of research.

Current Research

Adjustable Sockets

Sock Thickness and Use

Diagnostic Tool

Field Monitoring

Optimizing Liner Selection

Tissue Health

One of the biggest issues impacting limb health in transtibial amputees is the variability of fluid volume in their residual limb thoughout the course of the day. We are developing a socket whose volume can be adjusted, via a smartphone app, to ensure a proper fit. Prosethesis users frequently use socks, measured in "ply", to adjust the fit of their socket. Unfortunately, ply is not a well defined and so users cannot be sure how much they are adjusting their sockets. The problem is exacerbated when the sock is stretched over their limb. The CSG is means to measure the thickness of these socks while the user is wearing them. Bioimpedance has long been used to measure overall body composition. We are applying this technology to measure the fluid volume of amputees' residual limbs before and after their prosthetist does a modification on their socket. The goal is to help clinicians produce better outcomes and more quickly home in on the most beneficial modification. Determining the utility of new prosthetic practices and devices is a critical testing component. Initial tests conducted in a lab setting are useful, but they do not replace data collected from patients as they go about their daily routines. This work is intended to design tools to quantify changes in prosthetic fit and usage. Prosthetic liners are made out of a variety of polymers and even within liners from the same class of polymer there is substantial variation in material properties. Unfortunately, there has been no systematic survey done of these materials and clinicians have had to rely on anecdotal evidence for liner selection. We are creating a database of liner properties so that clinicians will have better information upon which to recommend liners to their patients. Prosthesis users can suffer skin damage from socket overuse or poorly fitting sockets. Skin can also adapt to become more resistant to mechanically-induced damage. Our goal in this research is to better understand the processes of skin breakdown and adaptation and to create tools to help clinicians better evaluate tissue health.

Previous Research

Advancing Computer Manufactured Sockets

Residual Limb Volume Fluctuation and
Accommodation

Sock Thickness & Sock Use

Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering

Interface Pressure and Shear Stress Measurement

Advancing Industry
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Advancing Industry

Patents

Sanders JE, Severance MR and Allyn KJ. System to evaluate prosthetic sockets. Patent 9,636,238 issued May 2, 2017
Sanders Joan E, Cagle John, Redfield Morgan, Redd Christian B. Systems, Devices, and Methods for Prosthetic Socket Adjustment. Patent Application 20150359644 filed December 17, 2015
Mitchell Stuart B, Sanders Joan E. Apparatus for controlled electrospinning. Patent 9,085,830 issued July 21, 2015
Sanders J, Myers T, Hafner B. Prosthetic limb monitoring system. Patent 9,072,463 issued July 7, 2015
Sanders Joan, Myers Timothy, Hafner Brian. Limb volume accommodation in people with limb amputation. Patent 9,056,023 issued February 10, 2015
Sanders Joan, Myers Timothy, Hafner Brian. Prosthetic limb monitoring system. Patent 8,951,211 issued February 10, 2015
Sanders Joan, Otis Brian, Allyn Katheryn, Hafner Brian, Cagle John. Limb volume accommodation in people with limb amputation. Patent 8,784,340 issued June 22, 2014
Sanders Joan E, Severance Michael R, Allyn Katheryn J. Systems and Methods for Modifying Prosthetic Sockets . Patent Application 20140163697 filed June 12, 2014
Sander Joan E, Redd Christian B. Potential Artery-to-Vein Disease State Detection. Patent Application 20130197340 filed August 1, 2013
Sanders Joan E, Severance Michael R, Allyn Katheryn J. System to Evaluate Prosthetic Sockets . Patent Application 20140149082 filed May 29, 2013
Sanders JE, Severance MR, Myers TR, Turkiyyah G, Sorenson EA, and Lee EL. Computer aided design and manufacturing of trans-tibial prosthetic sockets. Patent 8,423,167 issued April 16, 2013
Sanders Joan E, Myers Timothy R, Harrison Daniel S, Allyn Katheryn J, Lee Ellen L, Abrahamson Daniel C, Beach Kirk, Zachariah Santosh. Measurement and use of in-socket residual limb volume change data for prosthetic fitting. Patent 8,142,369 issued March 27, 2012
Mitchell SB and Sanders JE. Method and apparatus for controlled electrospinning. Patent 7,981,353 issued July 19, 2011
Sanders JE. Medical devices comprising small fiber biomaterials, and methods for use. Patent 7,947,069 issued May 24, 2011
Sanders JE and Neumann T. Bioengineered tissue substitutes. Patent 7,622,299 issued November 24, 2009
Sanders JE, Myers TR, Harrison DS, Allyn KJ, Lee EL, Abrahamson DC, Beach KW, Zachariah SG. Measurement and use of in-socket residual limb volume change data for prosthetic fitting. Patent 9,044,159 issued July 27, 2008
Sanders JE, Sorenson EA, Levine JH, Fergason JR, Lee GS, Zachariah SG, Wang Y-N, Yager P. Assessment of tissue response to stress. Patent Application 20100030083 filed July 27, 2008
Sanders JE. Structures and methods for promoting vascularization. Patent 6,638,520 issued October 25, 2003
Baker AB and Sanders JE. Structures having coated indentations. Patent 6,558,422 issued May 6, 2003

Our lab is committed to advancing the prosthetics industry through clinical research and instrumentation development. This commitment requires successful clinical, commercial, and research collaborations.

Clinical Partners

Previous and current studies have led to clinical partnerships with clinics in Oklahoma, North Carolina, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, San Francisco, and Alberta. Our clinical network allows us to expand our research beyond Seattle and the state of Washington, test the technologies we develop, and gather more insights to increase the clinical relevance of our work. We are continuously seeking to expand our clinical connections. If you are interested in discussing further how your prosthetic clinic may become involved in our research, please reach out to us using the “Contact Us” page on this website.

Technology Transfer

As research tools are developed in our lab, often our technology has commercial potential. We welcome the opportunity to work with commercial partners to develop our technology into a commercial product. If interested, please review our patents (at right) and read about our current and past projects. Licensing agreements may be arranged by CoMotion at the University of Washington. Contact us for more information from the "Contact Us" page on this website.

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