MEC Canada Conference

During the month of August 2022, APC Prosthetists, Paul Nixon and Joellen McPhan attended the Myoelectric Controls Symposium in Fredericton Canada. The conference focus was exclusively on upper limb prosthetics, specifically on myoelectric arms.

The event served as an opportunity for amputees within the community to share their stories and experiences using prosthetic limbs. Matthew Ames, a quadrilateral amputee from Australia gave a moving presentation on the ‘highs and lows’ of his life since his amputation with his experience with prostheses and other assistive technology (AT). Matthew highlighted the importance of a prosthetist’s role in fitting patients with products that meet their daily functional needs, weight, and personal requirements. Paul Nixon said this gave him “a new perspective on how to measure and validate the quality of the service we give to our clients at APC Prosthetics”.

Companies such as Össur, Naked Prosthetics, IBT, Fillauer, Point Designs and Aether Biomedical presented their product range, prescription principles and case studies in vendor workshops. Showcases of modern technology were on display, such as, pattern recognition – using muscle ‘patterns’ to make using the prosthesis feel more intuitive, and virtual reality simulations for prosthetic training and the treatment of pain. The conference provided insights from current research on the technology that makes up myoelectric prostheses including:

• Sensory Feedback: getting feeling back through the prosthesis and how this is being shown to give additional function to the prosthesis user.
• Targeted Muscle Re-Innervation: surgical technique to improve the individual’s control over their prosthesis.

Attending the MEC Symposium has helped to increase the knowledge of our prosthetists in the niche world of myoelectric prostheses. Simultaneously allowing the team to network – developing invaluable relationships with colleagues from Australia and around the world, promoting idea sharing and creating an opportunity to potentially collaborate in the future.