From information about amputations in Germany to a portrait of Christian Kandlbauer and a profile of Otto Bock Austria.
"40,000 - 60,000 leg amputations and 10,000 - 15,000 arm amputations are conducted in Germany each year." (Source: Amputierten Initiative e.V. – a national organisation with headquarters in Berlin - www.amputierten-initiative.de )
On September 11, 2005 Christian Kandlbauer from the Steiermark suffers a high-voltage accident at the age of 18. This leads to the amputation of his left arm at the shoulder and his right forearm. On September 20, 2005, his right arm is amputated a second time - above the elbow joint - due to the risk of infection.
May 10, 2006: Release from the Weisser Hof rehabilitation centre with a high-end DynamicArm® myoelectric prosthesis on the right side. Examination at the AKH (general hospital) in Vienna for the purpose of a bionic arm fitting starts in June 2006.
Targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) is completed in December 2006. Arm nerves are re-routed to the large chest muscle so that motor nerve impulses from the brain can be measured by highly sensitive electrodes.
Comprehensive tests at Otto Bock Vienna follow.
The prototype of the mind-controlled arm prosthesis is first presented at a press conference in Vienna in November 2007. Christian Kandlbauer is the first European to control his new arm prosthesis through mental movements of his phantom limb alone. Kandlbauer only uses the prototype for research purposes in the Otto Bock laboratory, but not on a day-to-day basis - yet.
Fitting with the mind-controlled arm prosthesis for everyday use starting in January 2009. Kandlbauer leaves the Otto Bock laboratory with this prosthesis for the first time. Intensive monitoring and regular adjustments by Otto Bock follow, with the objective of achieving a stable final fitting.
Acquisition of his driver's license in October 2009. Kandlbauer is once again largely independent and mobile. He was employed as a motor vehicle mechanic before his accident and has now returned to his former employer where he works in the warehouse.
Otto Bock HealthCare Products GmbH is a leader in the field of prosthetics and rehabilitation. In addition to fabrication and distribution, the Vienna site is of special importance to Otto Bock - the global market leader in the prosthetics field - because of its research and development department. Approximately one third of around 400 employees work in this department. The head office of the company is in Duderstadt (South Lower Saxony).
PARAVAN GmbH is a leading company for vehicles and wheelchair technologies tailored to the needs of the disabled. More than 20 company and state prizes bear witness to the innovativeness of the Swabian company for the benefit of people with limited mobility around the world. At its headquarters in Pfronstetten-Aichelau, Baden-Württemberg, the PARAVAN Mobility Park offers all-round service for people with limited mobility. The company even offers SPACE DRIVE, the world's first electronic-digital steering and driving system approved for use in road traffic, with active redundancy (dual security for motor vehicle operation via joystick).
