Member Spotlight

Mimicking Human Movement

Pennsylvania company offers prosthetic components aimed at restoring mobility

IMPULSE TECHNOLOGY GOT ITS start in 2013 when two Pennsylvania State University researchers, Kamrun Nahar, PhD, and Aman Haque, PhD, founded the company to commercialize innovative ideas and products in high-impact mechanical and energy applications. “For me, it was doing something new in a different career path,” says Nahar, who was a research faculty member in the Engineering Sciences and Mechanics Department. “For Dr. Haque, a mechanical engineering professor, it was a way to apply his research to real-life applications in parallel to his academic career.”

Jeffrey Brandt, CPO, founder of Ability Prosthetics & Orthotics and director of business development at Ottobock Patient Care, is the company’s business advisor. “Jeff is a Penn State graduate, and we met him through clinical research [Ability P&O] was doing in conjunction with the university,” Nahar explains.

Impulse Technology has five employees, including full-time mechanical engineers, parttime mechanical engineering technicians and research assistants, and administrative and marketing support staff. The business is located in State College, Pennsylvania, at Innovation Park, a business incubator and real estate space owned by Penn State.

In 2017, the company learned that the Defense Health Agency at the U.S. Department of Defense was seeking to create prosthetic legs to give users improved mobility and comfort. “People with below-knee amputations often struggle with prostheses that do not fit properly or do not allow them a natural gait,” Nahar says. “Over time, this can lead to additional pressure on their other limbs and joints, back problems, pain, and limited mobility. The more closely a prosthetic leg can mimic human movement, the better it will be for the person wearing it.” Nahar and her team proposed adding a passive prosthetic ankle component that allows a prosthetic leg to more closely mimic human movement, at a competitive price. “Our solution was granted Phase I and Phase II Small Business Innovative Research Funding to develop it further,” she explains.

Today, Impulse Technology offers a 6-degree-of-freedom ankle prosthesis, Goralign PSA, that can be mounted on most commercially available prosthetic feet. While the device’s advanced functionalities can benefit all lower-limb amputees, Nahar says, it will be particularly helpful to individuals who do not have access to or cannot afford high-end robotic prostheses or are located in remote areas where access to prosthetic care is limited.

Impulse Technology owners Kamrun Nahar, PhD, and Aman Haque, PhD, at a trade show exhibit booth

COMPANY:

Impulse Technology

OWNERS:

Kamrun Nahar, PhD; Aman Haque, PhD; and Pennsylvania State University

LOCATION: State College, Pennsylvania

HISTORY: Nine years

Impulse Technology offers a passive prosthetic ankle component designed to mimic human movement.

“The product is a passive structure that offers self-alignment with variable stiffness in all planes of motion,” explains Nahar. “It ‘extends’ the optimal range of the dynamic alignment performed by the prosthetist, mitigating the negative effects of misalignment. This also enhances the mobility of the user by adapting to the changes in gait or terrain” and absorbing shock during heel strike and during twisting and bending.

The company is working with Ability P&O in fitting patients with the Goralign PSA. “We are expanding our partnerships with other prosthetic clinics to fit the device and offer other prosthetic products in the pipeline,” Nahar says.

The company markets heavily in the United States and abroad and participates in industry trade shows and conferences, including the AOPA National Assembly. Nahar recognizes the challenges facing Impulse Technology as a startup as it tries to penetrate the market and develop trust and brand reputation. She has noted the trend of consolidation and mergers in the industry and expects a smaller number of large corporations to influence patient care and the overall industry. “We plan to partner with larger manufacturers, patient-care facilities, and other stakeholders for our innovations and products to reach the patients,” she says.

“The road to success might not always be a straight one,” acknowledges Nahar, “but we are taking on these challenges and plan to offer additional innovative product options for prosthetists to serve their patients.”

Deborah Conn is a contributing writer to O&P Almanac. Reach her at deborahconn@verizon.net.

Drive Transformation

Build your network. Advance your career. Give back to the profession.

Volunteer for a Workgroup and/or Committee.

The American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA) has opened its annual call for volunteers and we need your talent.

Employees of all AOPA member companies are invited to serve on one of AOPA’s Committees and/or Workgroups.

Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to become involved in the O&P profession by supporting AOPA and your colleagues!

APPLICATION DEADLINE: JUNE 30, 2022

Terms of service are two-years and begin December 1, 2022.

AOPA VOLUNTEER

COMMITTEES | WORKGROUPS

 Coding and Reimbursement Committee

 Government Relations Committee

 Member Services Committee

 Operating Performance and Compensation Workgroup

 Research Committee

 State Representatives

 VISN Network

Learn more and submit your application at www.AOPAnet.org/volunteer.

QUESTIONS? Contact Betty Leppin at bleppin@AOPAnet.org or 571-431-0810.

Clinicians With Compassion

Southern facility focuses on patient care and ventures into 3D printing

KELVIN JONES, CPO, KNEW as a middle schooler that he wanted to own a business one day. In eighth grade, after his best friend was in a boating accident and lost his foot, Jones decided he wanted that business to be in the O&P profession.

“I had the opportunity to visit my first O&P practice in 1992 with my friend, and I found prosthetics fascinating,” Jones recalls. After finishing his undergraduate internship, Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine and worked as an O&P technician for the next two years. He graduated from Northwestern University’s O&P program and became certified in prosthetics and orthotics in 2004.

Jones joined Tom Fehl, CPO, at the Prosthetic & Orthotic Institute, or POI, in 2008. Fehl, who had founded the practice in 1997, served as a mentor to Jones. “Sitting under Tom was great for me as a young practitioner learning to navigate patient care, reimbursement, and the business aspect of O&P,” he says. After working as a clinician at POI for more than nine years, Jones joined his friend and business partner, Russell Sorrells, in acquiring the business in 2017. Jones credits Sorrells for helping POI reach a high level of success and professionalism. Jones also credits POI’s success to the administrative team executing the business model that he and Sorrells implemented five years ago. “Russ has been a critical component in establishing the intentional culture we want every team member at POI to have. He has worked tirelessly in developing processes and dashboard drivers we use to gauge our business health,” says Jones. The success of those processes has led Jones to work with other independent O&P owners to improve their systems.

Jones and Sorrells adhere to five core values in business that have become the “POI way,” says Jones. These values focus on continuous improvement, responsive care, positive patient experiences, showing appreciation, and owning their work, according to Jones.

POI’s services are equally diversified in orthotics and prosthetics. About 20% of the company’s orthotics work is pediatric, including cranial remolding helmets. “One of our priorities is continuing to enlarge our footprint in scoliosis bracing and other complex pathologies,” Jones says. “Brenda Sorrells, CO, who is Russell’s wife, has helped to solidify our position in pediatrics.”

The facility has 13 employees, including clinicians Sorrells;

Staff at Prosthetic & Orthotic Institute

FACILITY:

Prosthetic & Orthotic Institute

LOCATION:

Rock Hill and Lancaster, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina

OWNERS:

Kelvin Jones, CPO, and Russell Sorrells

HISTORY:

25 years

Russell Sorrells and Kelvin Jones, CPO Joshua Parker, CPO; Terry Gordon, CPO; and James “Fig” Newton, CFo, with offices in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Rock Hill and Lancaster, South Carolina.

POI recently ventured into 3D printing technology, with the goal of reducing turnaround time between initial evaluations and delivery. “We have our own 3D printer,” says Jones. “We are printing our own prosthetic sockets and have recently fabricated faceguards for athletes with facial fractures, allowing them to return to their sports. Our goal is eventually to offer central fabrication services for other facilities.”

POI uses OPIE outcome measures for its prosthetic K-level training and templates, as well as the Amputee Mobility Predictor before and after patients are fitted for a prosthesis. Clinicians also use the Timed Up and Go test for orthotics patients.

Among Jones’s favorite patient success stories is a woman who required a below-knee amputation after a failed knee surgery. Today she hikes, teaches a cycling class at the local YMCA, and attends several athletic training classes. “She is a great example of perseverance. Her attitude and determination are driving factors in her ability to function,” he says.

“I really want to stress that my staff and I don’t have to do this; we get to do it,” Jones says. “I speak for all of us when I say we enjoy caring for our patients in the community.”

Deborah Conn is a contributing writer to O&P Almanac. Reach her at deborahconn@verizon.net.