Upper Limb Prosthetics

If you had an upper limb amputation or if you or your child was born with a congenital arm or hand deformity, there are many prosthetic options for children, adolescents, and adults available. Our options range from simple body-powered prosthetics, life-like cosmetic arms, sport, and activity-specific prosthetics to standard myoelectric and high-tech robotic prosthetic arms. We are certified for all systems available on the New Zealand market and have extensive fitting experience with upper extremity prosthetics and myoelectrics.

Standard Myoelectrics

Myoelectric prosthetic limbs are externally powered (they are run by a battery, which you have to charge every 1-2 days). They do not require any harnessing for the control of the terminal device or hand. Small electrodes are placed in the socket to catch muscle contractions of your residuum (Don’t worry, they are not invasive at all, they are just lying on your skin).

When you are first fitted with an electric limb, you might require some training, first to train your muscles to control the prosthesis, and later to perform activities with both of your hands.

We use the following systems:

OttoBock System hands and Greifer, ErgoArm Electronic Plus

Fillauer Motion Control hands and ETD/ETD2

High Tech Robotic Prosthetics

High tech robotic arms work similarly to the standard myoelectrics. As they offer a lot more functions with different or simultaneous grips, they are more cost-intensive. The application process to the funder requires an intensive assessment of your personal situation and may take some time.

We have experience with fitting, and are certified to fit the following systems:

OttoBock: Michelangelo hand, BeBionic, MyoPlus pattern recognition, DynamicArm

Ossur: I-limb Quantum and I-digits Quantum

Taska: Taskahand

Fillauer: Boston Elbow

Coapt Pattern Recognition

CollegePark: EspirePro Elbow, H5 Hand

Sport and Activity Specific Prosthetics

You may want to continue with a sport or activity that you pursued before your amputation or you might want to explore a new activity for a more active lifestyle or you are wondering if your child could learn to play an instrument?

A sport or activity limb will be great for you or your child. From Baseball, tennis, ball sports, watersports, gymnastics, athletics, fishing, cycling, rowing to playing the guitar, violin, or drums. The adapters for activities are interchangeable and universal.

Cosmetic Arms

Are you subconscious of people staring at your amputation? Do You want to be less conspicuous or are working in a job with personal customer contact? Cosmetic arms are a great option for you. We match your prosthetic to your opposite remaining arm in size and colour. Depending on the type of fingernails you choose, you may be able to paint them to match your other nails (of course you can remove the nail polish again).

If you want an even more realistic prosthetic, freckles, moles, and/or hair can be integrated into your prosthetic.

Body Powered Upper Limb Prosthetics

Body-powered limbs are a great option for customers who value a good cost-performance ratio and who work in rugged, dusty, and/or wet environments. These limbs are easy to clean and very robust. Farmers, fishermen, or builders who perform heavy duties will like them, but also people who prefer a low maintenance option and do not want to charge their prosthetic every day (as you have to with an electric limb)

Upper limb Prosthetics for Children

The expectations around upper extremity prosthetics for children are different from those for adults. Most children, who need our services, need it due to a congenital deformity (also called dysmelia) or amniotic band syndrome rather than from an amputation.

It is important that the Prosthetist is experienced in fitting children. A bad experience with prosthetics at a young age might lead to a refusal of prosthetic services for a whole life. Having a well-fitting, well functioning, and cosmetic appealing limb (natural-looking, or colorful with spiderman, unicorns, and glitter) will encourage your child to wear a prosthetic.

Your child might not want to wear a limb from time to time or during different stages while growing up. It is important not to force your child into wearing a limb, it is better to let them discover that they are benefitting from wearing a limb. Some children might wear the prosthetic only at Day Care or in school and take it off, when at home. We support each child and family finding their way with prosthetics.

A child born with dysmelia can start wearing a prosthetic limb as early as 6 months old. Depending on the development of the child, by  2-3 years of age, they can be assessed for a myoelectric hand. Electric hands are available in different sizes. Your child will always be wearing a hand, matching his or her age and development. We are certified for the Otto Bock Myolino electric hand and have extensive fitting experience from overseas and in New Zealand.

A good combination with an electric limb is a sport or activity-specific limb, which the child can use for playing outside in the sandpit, to learn an instrument, or succeed in a sport.

For some children, a passive (cosmetic) arm and/or an activity specific prosthesis might be the only prosthetic they need.

We do not recommend harness controlled (body-powered) prosthetics for children as they can lead to unnatural body movements, tension followed by the abandonment of prosthetics altogether.

In the public prosthetic service body-powered hooks or prehensors are still prescribed and the waiting time for an electric limb in the public service can be several years.

Funding can be sourced from various other avenues. We may be able to assist you in your application for funding.

Digit and Partial Hand Solutions

We use our hands and fingers for a lot of tasks during our daily life, often without noticing or unknowingly (just think about writing, brushing your teeth, eating, opening zippers, or buttons).

Digital (Finger) amputations are one of the most difficult amputations to fit for a prosthesis due to suspension challenges, proprioception loss, aesthetics, and client discomfort. Digit amputations represent the largest number of amputations. There are both custom and prefabricated prosthetic devices available to suit digital amputees.

Most digit and partial hand amputations occur in (workplace) accidents. We also see amputations (often of multiple fingers) due to meningitis or sepsis.

Finger amputees often hear the common saying: “It’s just a finger, get on with it!” But a finger amputation can affect the dexterity of the whole hand. We can support you in finding the appropriate prosthetic for you.

We offer functional and cosmetic solutions from a variety of different suppliers to meet the different requirements of each individual amputee.

Cosmetic silicone prostheses are made to resemble the client’s remaining fingers and hands, they look life-like, matching the client’s skin colours, finger and nail size, and shape (if you wish, you can even paint your nails). But cosmetic silicone fingers offer only limited functional ability.

We also offer myoelectric partial hand and finger solutions as certified suppliers of I-digits Quantum from Ossur and other suppliers.

Partial hand and Finger amputations are often well suited for mechanical prosthetic fingers. We offer M-fingers and the futuristic solutions from naked prosthetics.

As each person is different, we will assess your needs and wishes in an initial consultation and discuss the further process of funding and fitting with you.