May 2009

Berkley Naugle was leading the life of a typical middle-aged man when he lost his left arm below the elbow in a horrific traffic accident. While approaching a toll booth in Richmond, Virginia, Naugle was cut off by a car full of teenagers. His SUV and the RV it was towing, flipped instantaneously; severing his hand and part of his forearm..

Now, two decades later, Naugle, an airplane hobbiest, is poised to get a markedly different life this week-due solely to the cutting-edge technology of the i-LIMB, a prosthetic hand Time Magazine just named the "Number One Health Care Innovation of 2008."

With the i-LIMB, Naugle 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 so Naugle can grab a ball, grip a key, use an ATM, hold a cup of coffee or grip a golf club among many other tasks we take for granted.

"For the past fifteen years, I've been searching for a hand that will allow me to live life to its fullest. Now I've found that," says Naugle. "It's even more important now as I have lost my eyesight in one eye and is diminished in the other."

This technological advance means that for the first time, Naugle, who generally uses the prosthetic limb that he has now only for cosmetic reasons, will be able to return to the woodworking activities he loves.

Naugle's new arm was designed and fit by Ability Prosthetics and Orthotics of Gettysburg, PA., while the i-Limb hand itself is manufactured by TouchBionics. Naugle is now one of a small group of people in the mid-Atlantic area receiving the i-LIMB and is one of five i-LIMB patients currently being treated by Ability.

"This is the single greatest advance in prosthetics in the last quarter-century," says Jared Howell, Naugle'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, Naugle 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 March 27, at 10 am at Ability's patient care center in Gettysburg, PA.

"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 covered by Medicare and other insurance companies.