NEW ARTIFICAL LEG “A BIG ADVANCEMENT”

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29220, 2 June 1960, Page 7

NEW ARTIFICAL LEG “A BIG ADVANCEMENT”

An artificial leg which is described by a Christchurch war amputee as “the nearest thing to a normal leg one could get” may be introduced by the Government as a standard fitting for New Zealand war amputees if a trial being carried out at present proves successful. The legs, which incorporate a hydraulic system connecting the knee and ankle so that both can work in unison, were invented by Mr J. H. F. Stewart, a New Zealander, while he was working in the United States as a hydraulic engineer with a large engineering firm. They have since been widely adopted in that country.

Sixteen of the limbs have been bought by the Government and have been fitted to war amputees throughout New Zealand, including three Christchurch men— Messrs A. R. Guthrey, A. A. Swanston and G. W. Clyde. The supervisor of the Disabled Servicemen’s artificial limb department (Mr I. Cooper) said the Government had purchased the limbs for trial purposes with a view to supplying them to all war amputees if they were found satisfactory. Artificial limbs are supplied free by the Social Security Department to all war amputees and are manufactured by the Disabled Servicemen's centres. If the new limbs were adopted as standard fittings they would be manufactured in New Zealand as in the past, the only difference being the incorporation of the patented hydraulic knee and ankle action into the limbs.

Mr Cooper said the new limbs would be very much more expensive than the older type, and the Government had to be certain that they would be a big improvement on conventional artificial legs before introducing them for all war amputees. That was the reason for the present trials. “Many Advantages”

Indications are thrt they are a vast improvement. Mr Guthrey said the limbs were much more natural and had many advantages over those at present in use. They gave the wearer much better balance and were more a ngrt of the body than an encumbrance.

He described the new hydraulic unit as the biggest advancement in artificial limbs since the war. Connected by a hydraulic oil system the knee and ankle on the artificial limbs worked similarly to a real limb action. As the leg is brought forward the toe lifts as in a natural walk. It is also much more comfortable in other positions, and obstacles can be stepped over normally. Mr Guthrey said he hoped that the Government would provide them for all war amputees and eventually in quantities so that all civilian amputees could be fitted with them as well