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     Dr. Richard M. Hemphill of Ellicott City, Maryland, doesn't plan to slow down anytime soon. While Dr. Hemphill used a prosthesis ten years, for the past five years he has used crutches exclusively. In 1994 he went to Reno to get a pair of SCBU crutches. He describes the HOPE Crutch as "The best crutch I've ever had. I've used them to walk three to five miles a day with my wife. They are more stable and provide better balance because the upright nature allows for better tip/surface contact. This is very important on wet or slippery surfaces. And I ought to know, having broken my ribs on two different occasions in my early days of crutch use. With the HOPE Crutch, I no longer have arm dislocation problems and I'm not wearing out clothes and coats like I did in the past. I think people will benefit from what CareBorne has done."

     Don Warner, a 6 foot, 5 inch, second-year amputee in Eugene, Oregon, first discovered the SCBU crutch at Oregon State University, where he serves on the Board of Directors. Don said, "The HOPE Crutch is fantastic! It provides much better support and balance with no underarm irritation."

     In September of 1994, Marsha Strickland of Sulphur, Louisiana, lost her leg in a motorcycle accident. A little over a year later, in December of 1995, she received a pair of SCBU crutches. Marsha says the recuperating months between amputation and being able to use a prosthesis are the most difficult. Marsha tells of the frustration she and other amputees encounter when trying to explain to their medical professionals the pain and suffering they endure with regular crutches during the recuperative period. They feel their doctors aren't hearing them because there is little comfort in the stock answers, "Crutches are difficult to use. You'll have to tough it out. There is no alternative." Marsha states, "Now there is an alternative! I have fallen and slipped with the regular crutches. They are dangerous. Ever since I have had the HOPE Crutch, I have not fallen or slipped. I'm also surprised by the speed in which I can move with the crutches. Freedom and security are what they give me. They have helped my quality of life."

     Many amputees interviewed, such as Jack Wagner, an accountant in Champaign, Illinois, credit the SCBU for making a big improvement in balance, as well as providing a much smoother transition from one step to the next.


Excerpt From:
BUSINESS WEEK / AUGUST 7, 1995

INNOVATIONS:      CareBorne Inc. of Reno, Nev., sells crutches with an extension that curls up behind the shoulder blade. That simple addition increases stability and reduces any underarm irritation experienced by the wearer. The so-called Hope crutches are becoming increasingly popular among college and professional sports teams.
 
 
 



Excerpt from:
Reno Gazette Journal - September 20, 1998
Reno entrepreneur making a better crutch
By Scott Sonner ASSOCIATED PRESS

   Bill Dickerson insists he's not in it for the money. He just wants to offer a helping hand -- or in this case, a better crutch.
   "With all the advances and technology, no one had really improved the crutch," said Dickerson, president of CareBorne Inc., a research, design and engineering company based in Reno.
   "It really hadn't changed since the Middle Ages. Even on the Egyptian pyramids, there are pictures of people leaning on sticks," he said.
   Some of his biggest fans so far are the elderly, who fear the instability of tradtional crutches, and big-time athletes, who are too tall or weigh too much for the typical crutch.
   Athletic trainers in the NFL, NBA and 100 collegiate teams across the country are especially fond of one version with a stabilizer bar behind the shoulder and a whole new curvy design.
   Dickerson, until recently a successful businessman in the commercial printing industry, said his only personal experience with crutches was a bad one.
   They slipped. They rubbed under his arms. They wore him out after just a half-block of walking. He suspected others suffered as well.
   "We surveyed 300 physical ther-apists and 140 nurses and found no one was really pleased with the crutch," he said.
   "The reason we did this was there was a need."
   Dickerson said major medical suppliers hadn't invested much time in such research because there wasn't any money to be made.
   "A crutch is a crutch is a crutch. It's not a big part of their busi-ness,'' he said.
   He said he had a leg up in his own research thanks to his old doctor buddies at the Rotary Club in Warsaw, Ind., "the orthopedic capital of the world."
   With their encouragement, he started studying the crutch, watching hour after hour of slowmotion videotapes. What he found was a tool that bred instability and inefficiency because of the way the crutch is designed to be used -- with elbows bent and the tips pointed slightly away from the body.
   "It's simply basic physics," he said. "You use about 78 percent more energy than a regular walk."
   The result over the past three years has been the invention of two new crutch types:
   The Stabilizer crutch, with a stabilizing bar raising up in the back to form an "L" in the top where the traditional crutch was flat
   The Hope crutch, a single pole with a bent "U" and ergonomically designed hand grips for big hands that won't fit in a traditional crutch
   "That's the big crooked one," said Jeff Monroe, head football trainer at Michigan State University.
   MSU started ordering the crutches four or five years ago. Traditional crutches just aren't big enough for today's modern athletes, he said.
   "These kids are routinely 300 pounds, 6-foot-6. If they get a knee injury they may have to be on crutches for six weeks," he said.
   The high piece on the back of the crutch is safer and more comfortable, Monroe said from East Lansing, Mich.
   "You have to remember, in my population of student athletes 18 to 22 years old, they are pretty aggressive, active people. They don't like to do things carefully," he said.
   "If I try to teach them to walk on crutches, they can take like a three-minute lecture, and then they are ready to go," he said.
   The University of Nevada-Reno were among the early guinea pigs for the new crutches.
   During early experiments, Dickerson said he would challenge ath-letes at the school track to a race -- he with the new crutches and they with the traditional ones.
   "I found I could race young ath-letes on crutches, and a 50-year-old man could beat them," he said.
   Even the state attorney general is a fan.
   "I think he's really got something," Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa said in a recent interview.
   Del Papa tried them out after she broke her leg roller skating.
   "I tried the regular crutches with the flat top but these are much more comfortable," she said.
   "Now I go up to people in air-ports and ask how long they are going to be on crutches. I tell them if it is long, it is really worthwhile to get a pair of these crutches."



Pete Mitchell of the Giants using the Hope Crutch after injuries resulting in a sprained knee. Many college and profession teams are using the Hope Crutch for their players with sports injuries.

Article courtesy of The New York Times, August 7, 2000
Mitchell's Knee Sprain Puts
Giants in Tight Spot
By RAFAEL HERMOSO

The worst-case scenario that quarterback Kerry Collins and the Giants' coaching staff feared Saturday night did not materialize yesterday. Tests on Pete Mitchell did not reveal a season-ending injury, but the Giants' only experienced pass-catchhing tight end will be out of action for the Sept. 3 opener against the Arizona Cardinals, and possibly
longer.

Mitchell severely sprained his left knee in the Giants' 20-8 loss to the Bears on Saturday at Giants Stadium, An M.R.I.  yesterday ruled out a torn anterior cruciate ligament, an Injury that would have ended Mitchell's season. 
After, speaking with doctors, Giants Coach Jim Fassel would not put a timetable on Mitchell's return, saying only that the tight end would miss at least the opener. Fassel preferred to walt until Mitchell has more tests before making a definitive statement, but the coach did not rule out an extended absence. Yesterday's exam did not show any significant ligament tears but Mitchell will undergo a CAT scan today on his knee.

"I would say right now the only procedure that would be under consideration would be a scope," Fassel said in a conference call, referring to possible arthroscopic surgery.

Such a procedure would be used partly to examine the knee, but Fassel did not believe it would reveal further damage that would require a more serious operation.

With little depth, the Giants dreaded any type of injury Saturday. But while Fassel maintained he was pleased with the first-team offense's ability to drive the field in the first half despite not scoring a touchdown, he was less   optimistic when it came to replacing Mitchell. That injury could have a harrowing domino effect on the rest of the offense.

As the only proven pass catcher among the team's tight ends, Mitchell was a key component to the Giants' revamped offense under the new coordinator, Sean Payton. Fassel said Mitchell's injury would not scale back the Giants' ambitious plans of opening up the passing game. "There'Il just be another guy doing it," Fassel said. "As far as dropping anything, no."

Fassel discussed different candidates to fill Mitchell's role temporarily, and said he did not anticipate searching outside the organization unless "1 get some surprising news" today.

Fassel did not even mention Howard Cross, the starting tight end, because Cross is used strictly as a blocker. Beyond Cross, the options on the team are running back Sean Bennett, tight end Dan Campbell and wide receiver Joe Jurevicius. Based on their resumes alone, they are not ideal replacements.

Bennett, a second-year back, has never played tight end. He has been learning the role in practice and the Giants planned to use him more as a pass catcher out of the backfield. Campbell, Mitchell's backup, has never caught a pass in two professional seasons.

Jurevicius is the team's third receiver and would need to be replaced there if he saw time at tight end. The rookie Ron Dixon would then be elevated from the fourth string.

It's understandable why Collins fretted after seeing Mitchell on crutches Along the sideline Saturday. Collins, who hopes to benefit from the Giants' plans to loosen their offense, said Saturday it would be a blow to lose Mitchell for the season.

EXTRA POINTS
After one preseason game, Coach JIM FASSEL is already prepared to revamp his special teams. "I'll make some changes in that group right now," Fassel said after watching the Bears return one kickoff for 65 yards and a punt for 50. "I can't comprehend our coverage playing like that. We showed a total lack of being able to get off a block, or we ran around blocks and opened up seams." ... Perhaps no player carried as much fanfare into Saturday's game as RON DAYNE, last year's Heisman Trophy winner from Wisconsin. Fassel was impressed with Dayne in his first professional game, but said Dayne also showed the hesitation of a rookie. "He made two guys miss where maybe in the past our guy doesn't get back to the line of scrimmage," Fassel said. "He's reading correctly, but sometimes I don't think when he read it correctly he reacted to it as quickly as he has in the past. That's something that's going to take some time." Dayne carried 17 times for 48 yards. RON DIXON, the third-round pick out of Lambuth University, did not impress anyone with his tendency to stop-and-go on kick returns. "He's got to learn to get the ball and go upfield," Fassel said. "There's too many people who are fast on the field." ... Fassel expected defensive end MICHAEL STRAHAN (back stiffness), defensive tackle KEITH HAMILTON (hamstring strain) and linebacker MIKE BARROW (sprained knee) to practice today. None played Saturday. Running back JOE MONTGOMERY, who also did not play, will practice lightly this week in anticipation of playing Friday at Jacksonville.

Pete Mitchell's sprained left knee is worrisome for the Giants because they don't have an experienced pass-catching tight end to replace him



Excerpt From:
InMotion (Volume 7 . Number 3) July, 1997
A Publication of the Amputee Coalition of America
 
Crutch Profiles: Slimmer, Lighter, Stronger
     While no one is certain as to exactly how many Americans use crutches as mobility aids, the numbers are substantial. It is estimated that some 2 million children and adults every year need crutches while recovering from leg fractures or other temporary impairments.
     In addition, roughly half-a-million others rely on crutches on a long-term basis. This includes people with lower limb loss who either do not wear a prosthesis or need the supplementary support and balance of crutches while walking with one or more prosthetic legs.
     It is this extended crutch use population which can benefit most from improvements in design and fabrication of these traditional ambulation aids.
     Accordingly, InMotion presents an overview of recent advances in crutches that are currently available to the public, as well as a general listing of choices among more standard models. This is by no means an all-inclusive presentation, nor is it the only such information our magazine will present.
     Future issues of InMotion will revisit this topic, alerting our readers to subsequent improvements in designs, new products, and findings regarding research into ambulation aids.
 
On the Market...
     CareBorne, Inc., a research, design, and engineering company in Reno, Nev., has developed and patented the HOPE Crutch, a new concept in assisted ambulation that stabilizes the top of the axillary crutch behind the back of the user.
     During the research phase, company designers reviewed extensive medical studies which determined that the purpose of the eight inch by one inch soft rubber underarm pad on many crutch tops was primarily to create friction so the top would adhere to clothing and not slip out from under the arms. Unfortunately, the researchers felt, this friction design feature causes irritation and soreness each time the rubber pad pivots during the step cycle.
     CareBorne engineers found that by extending the crutch behind the user, the crutch becomes more stable and cannot slip forward. Instead of a large rubber pad which creates friction, the HOPE crutch features a smooth, curved surface which reduces friction and eliminates underarm irritation and soreness.
     Another innovation is that the new design keeps the arms straight rather than flexed. The common procedure for fitting traditional axillary crutches is to have an elbow angle of 10 to 30 degrees of flexion, often vaguely described as "the elbow should be slightly bent." Because smaller muscles such as elbow extensors are inadequate to support the body's weight, they fatigue more rapidly than larger muscles. Keeping the arms straight prohibits the up and down motions caused by bent elbows, and encourages the use of the larger triceps and pectoral muscles.
     Additional benefits of the CareBorne back support design include:
     Two versions of the new design are available -- The HOPE Crutch and the Stabilizer Crutch. Both incorporate the back support feature devised by CareBorne. The HOPE crutch has a grip that accommodates a large hand; it is used by over 80 Division I universities for student athletes with sports injuries. The Stabilizer Crutch more closely resembles a conventional crutch.

Prices: amputees receive priority in orders the HOPE Crutch ($118) or the Stabilizer ($92). To order click here, or for more information, call 1-800-998-2263