3D MAC, Ortho/Prosthetics assist service members, beneficiaries get back into action in and out of uniform

Story by Bernard Little

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

Ryan Pelzer grew up riding motocross, but a firework accident claimed his right thumb and injured his wrist, hampering his ability to participate in the sport, but not his passion for it.

Because of his injuries, Pelzer has difficulty shifting gears on the motorcycle making it hard for him to ride. But thanks to the 3D Medical Applications Center (3D MAC) and Orthotics and Prosthetics Lab at Walter Reed, Pelzer may soon be back on the bike.

Peter Liacouras, Ph.D., director of services for the 3D MAC, along with Louise Hassinger, prosthesis technology specialist, and Abigail Hinson, prosthetic technician in the Orthotics and Prosthetics Lab, are working on a special prosthetic designed for Pelzer to help him shift gears and get back into motocross racing.

“Everything at Walter Reed has been great,” said Pelzer, a native of Triangle, Virginia and a self-described, “adrenaline seeker.” He worked with explosives during his time in the Army. He explained that because of his injury, he is no longer able to serve, but has received exceptional care at Walter Reed.

“There are limitations [since the injury], but we’ve developed a basketball hand which helped me play and last year my team won intramurals at Randolph-Macon,” Pelzer shared.

“We’ve been also trying to develop this motocross device,” Pelzer added. “I’ve always known that I wanted to ride again.” He explained that because of the multiple shifting required to ride a motocross bike, he’s been working with Liacouras and his team in the 3D MAC and the Orthotics and Prosthetics staff in building various devices that would enable him to ride again.

“We are making progression to where I used to be before my injury,” Pelzer said. “My dad got me on a bike when I was 3 years old, so motocross has run through my blood. From there, we just started racing and I fell in love with it. I was a natural. When I was 9 years old, I was in the top 18 [among youth riders nationally] at Gatorback at Mini O’s [in Florida].”

Pelzer explained motocross bikes really can’t be modified for competition. “You do have to do it for major cases involving extremities, but under my circumstances as a partial amputee, I believe you can still use a motocross bike that is unmodified.” He shared that extreme modification of a bike can lead to a disqualification for the rider and impact sponsor opportunities.

Walter Reed has one of the most skilled and capable 3D MAC teams, producing more than 1,000 products annually for beneficiaries and supporting military medicine. The 3D MAC team uses digital technology combined with additive manufacturing to provide medical-specific models and devices for Military Health System beneficiaries. The team produces custom implants, medical simulators, surgical guides, orthotics, prosthetic devices and patient-based anatomical models. They also assist in virtual-treatment planning, image capturing and research projects throughout the Department of Defense (DoD).

In addition to trying to help Pelzer get back to motocross, 3D printing and advances in prosthetics are helping wounded warriors take on activities like ice hockey, rock climbing, and other activities requiring adaptive devices. For combat veterans with severe head injuries, sophisticated 3D printing machines can “print” customized cranial implants to restore damaged skulls to their original shape and density. And using 3D tech to make models for doctors to train on is reducing the time required for surgeries and improving outcomes.

“Rock climbing, swimming, ice skating” — there is much that standard prosthetics materials and manufacturing can do to restore mobility in patients who have lost limbs, but there are some needs for specialty devices that additive manufacturing [3D printing] can provide,” Liacouras has stated. His team has produced attachments for mobile phones, mechanical toothbrushes, deodorant, a specially adapted fishing rod and even a crab claw and hammer. The recipient “wanted to eat his crabs and couldn’t successfully do it with his prosthetic hand,” Liacouras shared.

“The United States military has been at the forefront of these new technologies and working to bring about major advances in prosthetics — extending battery life, water resistance, and improved control schemes,” Liacouras shared. He emphasizes that evolutions are driven by patient care. “The next improvements depend on what returning service members need,” he added.