November 2008

BREAKTHROUGH PROSTHETIC TECHNOLOGY GIVES PHILADELPHIA MAN HIS HANDS BACK

Portrait Painter Lost Hands in Explosion 20 Years Ago Now Among the First to Receive New Prosthesis Hailed as the "Number One Health Care Innovation in 2008"

Erminio Bugliana was leading the life of a typical, active 20-something in 1988, when he lost his left hand and most of his right in a horrific fireworks explosion.

Now, two decades later, Bugliana, a portrait painter, is poised to get a markedly different life-due solely to the cutting-edge technology of the i-Limb, a prosthetic limb Time Magazine named the "Number One Health Care Innovation of 2008" this week.

This technological advance means that for the first time, Bugliana, who over the years had been reduced to inventing makeshift devices in order to paint, can find a full range of expression for his artistic talent without being hampered by the conventional harnesses and cables of yesteryear.

With the i-Limb, Bugliana will now be able to utilize each digit (finger) independently through muscle and nerve signals generated from his forearm. An individual motor in each digit allows for everyday movement for activities such as grabbing a ball, using an ATM, holding a cup of coffee, gripping a golf club or, in Bugliana's case, painting portraits.

"For the past twenty-five years, I've been searching for a hand that will allow me to live life to its fullest. Now I've found that," says Bugliana.

Bugliana's new arm was designed and fit by Ability Prosthetics and Orthotics of Exton, PA., while the i-Limb hand itself is manufactured by TouchBionics. Bugliana is now one of a small group of people in the mid-Atlantic area receiving the i-Limb.

"This is the single greatest advance in prosthetics in the last quarter-century," says Jared Howell, Bugliana's prosthetist at Ability. "This technological breakthrough is the result of exponential growth in prosthetics research and is now being rapidly utilized by the military and Veterans Administration, among others."

To date, Bugliana has been fitted with his preliminary socket and has received some preliminary training from a hand therapist. His final hand fitting is scheduled for Friday Nov. 14, at Ability's patient care center in Exton, PA. Then, not too long afterward, he hopes to fulfill a lifelong dream: Riding a motorcycle. "At Ability, we pride ourselves on being able to find the very best solution for each of our patients," said Howell. "We love helping our patients find their dreams again." The i-Limb can be paid for by Medicare and other insurance companies.

Still shots and videos of the fitting, including interviews with Mr. Bugliana and Jared Howell, will be available.