With the way technology moves these days, what once seemed purely the stuff of science fiction – like bionic limbs – has become reality. That's the case for two Utah veterans, Bryant Jacobs and Ed Salau. Both Iraq war amputees, they will be the first patients in the country to have prosthetics surgically implanted. With surgery performed earlier this week in Salt Lake City, according to the Associated Press, Jacobs and Salau have become pioneers in the prosthetic world.
"I'm more than happy to be the guinea pig," said Jacobs.
Dr. Laurence Meyer, director of research for Salt Lake's Veterans Affairs department, said in the week before the surgery that it would involve implanting a titanium stud in the femur. Called a percutaneous osseointegrated prosthesis, the device will be followed by an exterior mechanism for docking the prosthesis in six weeks.
"Then we will start getting the actual data if it works, and we don't know that yet," said Meyer.
Stars and Stripes reported that having a prosthetic attached directly to the bone should help alleviate socket wear and the amount of energy Jacobs and Salau have to exert when walking. However, their doctors cautioned against excessive optimism. The technology is still very new, with perfection perhaps still decades away.
At a press conference, Dr. Erik Kubiak explained that they won't "feel like this was a successful event … unless we see people functioning with their implant … 10 years down the line. This is just the beginning of a process that potentially makes this available to more people."
Neither man was made available for comment post-surgery, but doctors did acknowledge they were allowed to return home earlier than expected. Should the trial prove successful, the prosthetic study will return to the FDA for wider trial approval.