Bone Anchored Limbs
About SIGBAL
Scope
SIGBAL will focus on persons with both upper and lower limb amputation who may be candidates for a bone-anchored limb. A bone anchored limb is an innovative method of attaching artificial limbs to the human body.
In SIGBAL, the members work together to provide optimal care for persons with limb amputation. The membership may consist of, but not be limited to, prosthetists, technicians, rehabilitation specialists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, surgeons, engineers, and researchers.
Objectives:
- To create an overview of teams / healthcare professionals involved in bone-anchored prosthesis treatment.
- To facilitate partnership between members of SIGBAL in order to discuss complex treatment-related issues
- To create a core outcome set for bone-anchored prosthesis treatment in order to facilitate international collaboration.
- To create a knowledge agenda aimed at identifying the obstacles in the field of bone-anchored prosthesis treatment.
- To organize every two years a joint meeting during the ISPO Int'l World Congress.
- To explore the need for an accreditation system for institutions to facilitate an informed choice for patients seeking bone-anchored prosthesis treatment.
- To explore the need for a global data management system to facilitate joint publications.
Ready to join us?
Click on the link below to let us know that you want to get involved with SIGBAL. Please note that you must be an ISPO member to join the group. If you are not a member, but want to be on our mailing list for now, you can do that too.
Events & Activities
Recommended regular conferences relating to bone anchored limbs and upcoming SIGBAL meetings.
Resources
We kindly request your patience as this section of our website is currently under construction. We are diligently working to create content that meets our standards of excellence.
Guidelines
Development of the Bone-Anchored Lower Limbs Core Outcome Set (BALLCOS)
Bone-anchored limbs for persons with a lower extremity amputation are available for over 30 years, however there is no agreement on a standardized set of outcomes. This limits (international) collaboration and thereby the possibility to push the field forward. To learn more about Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) visit: https://www.comet-initiative.org.
The Special Interest Group for Bone Anchored Limbs (SIGBAL) aims to develop a core outcome set (COS) that represents the minimum that should be measured in clinical practice and reported in scientific research of bone-anchored limb users.
We call on all SIGBAL members to fill out the following questionnaire (https://forms.gle/dHxDpAGHe5f1x2VBA) to kick-start the process of developing BALLCOS. The entire process is detailed below, which will be completed during the I.S.P.O. 20th World Congress in Sweden.
Patient Journey & Treatment Team
We kindly request your patience as this section of our website is currently under construction. We are diligently working to create content that meets our standards of excellence.
Need more info?
On our Members Only pages you may find extensive additional information. Please join us!
Our group is happy to answer any of your questions. Please click here to email us at sigbal@ispoint.org.
SIGBAL Founding Members
- Rickard Brånemark, Surgeon (Sweden)
Dr. Brånemark, founder and former CEO of Integrum AB, is a pioneer in the use of titanium implants to secure limb
prostheses, with over 20 years of experience and over 200 surgeries. His significant contributions to amputation research earned him international recognition, including the Hanger Prize in 2007. - Jan Paul Frölke, Surgeon (Netherlands)
Dr. Jan Paul Frölke is an esteemed trauma surgeon and clinical epidemiologist. Trained at Utrecht, Harvard, and UCSF, he obtained his PhD in 2001. Since 2001, he's been an orthopaedic trauma surgeon at Radboudumc, pioneering osseointegration prostheses since 2009. Dr. Frölke has transformed hundreds of lives with limb amputations, enhancing mobility and quality of life. - Laurent Frossard, Scientist (Australia)
Professor Laurent Frossard is a bionic limbs scientist passionate about developing ground-breaking prosthetic solutions to improve life of individuals suffering from limb loss. He is internationally recognized as a researcher and independent expert for his unique expertise in bionic limbs. He is one of the very few independent experts in the clinical benefits of bone-anchorage prostheses. - Mitch Grant, Expert User (Australia)
- Ruud Leijendekkers, Physiotherapist (Netherlands)
Dr. Ruud A. Leijendekkers is a Physical Therapist at Radboud University Medical Center. He received his master's degree from Utrecht University. His research interests are Physical Therapy, Physical Rehabilitation, Musculoskeletal, Physiotherapy, Orthopedics, and Trauma. - Marta Geada, CPO Member (Australia)
Marta graduated in 2012 in Lisboa, in Portugal,Marta then spent 5 years in London, working at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, with a focus on paediatric prosthetics. Marta joined the APC Prosthetics team in September 2017 and is one of the leading Prosthetics for Osseointegration global. - Jason Stoneback, Surgeon (United States)
Dr. Stoneback specializes in the treatment of simple and complex fractures, non-unions, malunions, osteomyelitis, orthopedic infections, limb-length discrepancies, deformity correction, post-traumatic limb salvage and novel osseointegration surgery in amputees.