FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Weeks after becoming the first woman nationally to be fitted with an i-limb quantum bionic arm, Lizbeth Uzcategui continues to discover - and surprise herself with - what she can do.
The new, high-tech limb, made by Massachusetts-based Touch Bionics, allows the Fort Lauderdale resident to enjoy small movements that many people might take for granted. Things like giving a thumbs-up (or down), moving a computer mouse, shaking hands, opening up her new hand to rest her phone in it, or using the electronic thumb and index finger to pinch something.
“This has been a lot more than just functional for me. It has been also emotional for me in the sense that, before, I was not happy with what I had,” said Uzcategui, 43, as she sat inside the offices at Hanger Clinic in Tamarac, Fla., where she demonstrated some of her newfound moves.
The native Venezuelan was born without the right arm below the elbow and three fingers on her left hand due to amniotic band syndrome, which restricts blood flow in utero and affects development.
Since age 3, she has had about 15 different skin-hued prosthetics, which she found cumbersome because they only allowed an open-and-close hand movement.
“I was frustrated. I needed something better. I needed to be more functional,” said Uzcategui, who came to the United States 20 years ago, teaching Spanish in North Carolina and then Pennsylvania. She moved to Broward County nine years ago, working as an education trainer with Rosetta Stone.
Still, she felt limited by her prostheses.
“The fact that I couldn’t perform certain functions, I just wasn’t satisfied with who I was, who I could be. I wanted to be more.”
Her new device, which weighs about a pound, uses a microprocessor to run five fully functional fingers. It has six embedded electrodes that read the user’s muscle contractions in the limb. Those signals cause the arm to flex the fingers and open and close the palm.
In all, it has 24 movements.
And there’s another perk. “I never wore short sleeves before,” she said, because it brought attention to her prosthetic. Now she proudly wears her new limb.
“Now I feel proud of what I am wearing, and I feel a lot more functional. I have to go shopping for new clothes,” she said, with a smile.
Since being fitted with the electronic limb in July, Uzcategui shares her experience with anyone who asks in her daily travels, but especially with fellow patients at the Hanger clinic, where she works as a liaison or an “empower coordinator” who guides recent amputees as they adapt to life without a limb. She accompanies them to doctor appointments and provides emotional support.
“I am kind of like their navigator and help them understand what to expect, what is going to happen, kind of giving them a light to show them the way and help them embrace their new selves and prepare for the new chapter,” Uzcategui said.
Matthew Klein, Uzcategui’s prosthetist at Hanger, has seen how the device has helped enhance her life. It was customized for the petite hands of the 5-foot-1-inch woman.
“These hands, in general, have evolved quite a bit in the last five to seven years, and they have all been too large for her hand,” Klein said. “She would come in with a somewhat antiquated hand, but it would look like a gigantic fake hand on her.”
Uzcategui was given the prosthesis by the clinic, so she can provide feedback to help continually improve the device for others, Klein said.
The average cost to fit an i-limb quantum ranges from $80,000 to $120,000, according to the manufacturer’s spokeswoman, who noted that insurance companies may cover the costs.
The arm comes with an app that helps Uzcategui learn how to make specific movements. Uzcategui can charge it in her car or at home.
“I can hold my bag a lot more comfortably than before. Just a little bit of everything, the day-to-day, holding silverware as well. I can hold a glass more comfortably and elegantly as well. The fingers wrap around the shape of the object,” said Uzcategui.
“I am just really thrilled by what I can do right now,” she added. “It’s like a new me.”
People interested in the i-limb should consult with a prosthetist trained to fit the device. For a list of certified clinicians, go to touchbionics.com. For more information on Hanger, go to hangerclinic.com.
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