Focus of Work
Bio
Dr Kuiken’s research group is Developing a variety of rehabilitation technologies including: An innovative standin Wheelchair, a low cost arm and below knee prosthesis system; developing bionic technologies to improve the function of artificial limbs for people with amputations. one of the main research foci of the lab is developing a technique using surgical nerve transfers to improve the control of motorized prosthese-- a technique called ‘targeted reinnervation’. By transferring the residua...[Read full text]Dr Kuiken’s research group is Developing a variety of rehabilitation technologies including: An innovative standin Wheelchair, a low cost arm and below knee prosthesis system; developing bionic technologies to improve the function of artificial limbs for people with amputations. one of the main research foci of the lab is developing a technique using surgical nerve transfers to improve the control of motorized prosthese-- a technique called ‘targeted reinnervation’. By transferring the residual arm nerves in an upper limb amputee to spare regions of muscle it is possible to make new signals for the control of robotic arms. This allows simultaneous control of multiple joints in a natural way. The procedure has been very successful in patients with increases in speed of 50- 500%. Similarly, hand sensation nerves can be directed to reinnervate spare skin in or near the residual limb so that when this skin is touched, the amputee feels like their missing hand is being touched including light touch, graded pressure hot/cold, sharp/dull and vibration. This is an exciting pathway to producing true sensory feedback to amputees from their prosthesis. A recent clinical trial showed that TMR reduces Phantom limb and Neuroma pain by about 50%. TMR is expected to become the new standard of care for amputation and is seeing world wide adoption of this innovative surgical technique.[Shorten text]
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Education and Certification
- MD, PhD: Northwestern University, Biomedical Engineering (1990)
- Internship: Northwestern University, McGaw Medical Center (Evanston Northwestern Healthcare) (1991)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship: Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (1992)
- Residency: Northwestern University, McGaw Medical Center (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago), Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (1995)
- Board Certification: Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Contact
312-238-8072
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab 11th floor, Rm 1414
355 E Erie
Chicago IL 60611
tkuiken( at )northwestern.edu
