students – Be-YOU-tiful Adaptive Warrior

The Future is Now: Part 4 of 5

By bawarrior | April 23, 2025

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:41 — 41.8MB)

University of Michigan

Mira Mutnik, Jake Kanetis, and Marty Kilbane

Amazing conversation with not 1, not 2, but 3 PhD students at the University of Michigan this week!

A true, authentic conversation about the innovation and design of future prosthesis and the growth and research of creating a surgical procedures to aid in using these newly designed prosthesis all with the purpose of replicating the natural human movement.

We packed so much conversation into this episode with so much more we could have talked about.

Once again, we discussed what we could, but some details must be left out due to the highly competitive field these young adults are working in.

What I love about these three students is that even though they are all in a different sector, so to speak, of research: Mira-above limb amputees, Jake-below limb amputees, and Marty-prosthetics, they are all working towards the same goal; creating the best way to unify the surgical procedure and prosthesis to give the amputee the best, most natural movement possible.

Jake all hooked up to monitor human movement to collect data for his research

Marty working with a study participant on their design of a prosthesis they are working on in the lab.

Mira collecting data on her upper limb project and how to get the best hand movement and dexterity of a prosthesis.

We had a great discussion of what it could look like for the future of amputees and the length of time these studies take. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, safety regulations, data collecting, and trials. The FDA must approve procedures and products that they hope to take to market some day, but these students have become three of the many students going through the program at University of Michigan, working tirelessly to bring this technology closer to us being able to access it.

I find it so unique to see the shift from making the newest, coolest, most advanced products for us to wear, as amputees, to surgical procedures to make our bodies work in harmony with a prosthesis. The one thing we did dive deep into was the procedure of getting candidates who fit the bill to doing the trial procedures, and finding willing participants as well. This can be so tricky as we struggle with the idea of going back in and revision the original amputation in hopes that the outcome will be the same if not better, but the concern that it could be worse.

I hope you will join us today, listen to the entire podcast and see what dedication these students have for helping our amputee community, what motivates them to continue into this higher level of study, and what their plans are for their future after graduation.

Thank you Jake, Mira, and Marty for sharing your passion. Your dedication to helping our community find a better way to live is inspiring and deserves our gratitude!

Continue doing what you’re doing, and know we all thank you for the time, ideas, and ingenuity to take amputees to the next level!

Please make sure you all Like, Share, and Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode as we continue with our 5th Student interview next week as we visit MIT again from a different angle.

Wishing you all the best, and a blessed week ahead.

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!

Much love,

Statistically Speaking

By bawarrior | March 26, 2025

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:42 — 30.7MB)

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The Reality of the Numbers and What We Can Do About It

The stats on amputees is staggering.

In the US 1 in 200 people have undergone amputation!

Over 2.1 million people live with an amputated limb.

Worldwide, 1 million ampuatations happen annually, that’s 1 amputation every 30 seconds!!!

1 EVERY 30 SECONDS!

Amputee Coalition’s diagram of statistics taken from Promedeast.com 2023

Even more alarming is the projection of the 2.1 million in the US doubling by the year 2050!

(🚨Please excuse my error around the 3 minute mark. I meant to say over 4 million, not 400 million)

On a different note and other statistics:

The #1 cause of amputation, currently, is vascular disease, such as diabetes and peripheral arterial disease at 54% of major amputations.

A close second at 45% is trauma with cancer being less than 2% of amputations.

From this we see the emotional impact an amputation has on us. Amputees deal with depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

Work is also impacted, making it harder to earn a living, keep a job, and even getting a new job, adding more stress to a person’s life and complicating relationships, new and old.

Why am I talking to you about all of these numbers (especially since I am NOT a numbers girl)? These stats and the aftermath of amputation have a huge impact on how people function in society and how well they live their life.

Next week begins the month of April which is Limb Loss/Limb Difference Awareness Month.

Every year I use this month to interview people in our community to shed light on and inspire the world.

This year I am excited to announce that this month I will be talking with students from across our country who are working in the fields of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Engineering. This field has seen a boom across the country and the competition is intense! Each of these interviews are with students in the midst of creating, testing, or improving on products that will enhance the lives of amputees all over the world. Most are not even amputees (however, there is at least one who is), they are just looking to make a difference in a growing population.

These students are our future. They are striving to find a better way for those of us who have lost a limb.

I wanted to spotlight them and the hundreds of others who are studying biomedical engineering, in hopes to make a difference.

Please make sure you like, share and subscribe to my podcast here, on my You Tube channel, or on most streaming platforms so you don’t miss these April interviews and all the good these students are doing.

Apple Podcast

Spotify

iHeart

With such a growing interest and determination to improve the lives of amputees I am filled with such hope for our future and what we will be able to accomplish DESPITE our limb difference.

Join me this April as we see the heart and minds behind our bright future!