Conference Programme

User Outcomes

Thursday 30th November - 9am

Keynote: Sandra Sexton

Sandra Sexton (Sandy) is a Prosthetist/Orthotist with a rich experience in the health, rehabilitation and education sectors. She has a strong interest in the development of services for people with a disability and a belief that their care should be provided by appropriately trained and skilled professionals. Sandy qualified in 1988 from the University of Strathclyde and last year completed a Master of Science in Development Management with the Open University.

Her many professional activities included working on the original Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine when state registering the profession in the UK to working with the World Health Organization on their 2017 Standards for Prosthetics and Orthotics. Sandy has always demonstrated a passion for the continued development and growth of the prosthetics and orthotics sector both nationally and internationally.

Invited Speaker: Koalaa

Abstract Presentations:

Sally Gates - Title TBC

Ben Hicks - Title TBC

Hannelore Williams-Reid - Wound Management, Healing, and Early Prosthetic Rehabilitation: A Scoping Review of Biomarkers

Lesley Davidson - “Only if the user complies” - Repair and maintenance in myoelectric user manuals

Lois Galletly - Title TBC

David Rusaw - Title TBC

Careers Talk: The British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists (BAPO)

Novel Prosthetic/Orthotic Design and Control

Thursday 30th November - 2pm

Keynote: Peter Kyberd

Peter Kyberd received his Ph.D. from Southampton University, Southampton, U.K. He studied the control of a multifunction prosthetic hand, and included creating the first microprocessor controlled prosthetic hand to be worn by a user in the field.

Throughout the 1990s, he worked at the Oxford Orthopaedic Engineering Centre, (Oxford University) where he was involved in a verity of orthopaedic projects including two projects funded by the European Union investigating aspects of the design and control of prosthetic arms. The team fitted the first prosthetic limb to be controlled by a serial bus and used in the field in 1998, the successor to arm continues to be in use today. From 2000, he was a Lecturer at the Cybernetics Department of Reading University in the UK, where he was part of a team that performed the first implant of a bi-directional nerve sensor on a healthy human being.

In 2003, he took up a Canada Research Chair in Rehabilitation Cybernetics at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, where he conducted research in the clinical application of intelligent prosthetic arms and was part of the Upper Limb Prosthetics Outcome Measures Group, promoting the use of validated and standardised tools of prosthetic assessment. In 2015 he returned to the UK and has headed schools in Greenwich and Portsmouth. He is currently the head of the school of Engineering at Derby University. He remains interested in understanding how we can control prosthetic arms better with a lesser cognitive burden.

His PhD hand is currently on display in the London Science Museum, Engineers Gallery.

Invited Speaker: Fergal Mackie - Co-founder and CEO of Metacarpal

Abstract Presentations:

Nicolaas Pickard - Adjustable prosthetic sockets: a systematic review of industrial and research design characteristics and their justifications

Emma Curati-Alasonatti - A Continuous Regional Oxygen Saturation Monitoring System for Lower Limb Prostheses using Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Sean Donald - Title TBC

Angus Clark - Identifying the Design Requirements of Appropriate Suspension Systems for Lower-Limb Prostheses in LMICS

Hope Shaw - Title TBC

Manuela Trejo - Restoring the sense of touch: Development of a low cost, wearable and customizable haptic feedback system for prostheses

Sponsor Session: Steeper - ‘The Future of P&O

BIOMECHANICS in P&O

Friday 1st December - 9am

Keynote: Cleveland Barnett

Dr. Barnett is currently an Associate Professor of Biomechanics and Director of Doctoral Programmes in the School of Science and Technology at Nottingham Trent University. He was awarded his Ph.D from the University of Hull having completed his undergraduate studies at Liverpool John Moores University. Research conducted by Dr. Barnett has centred upon understanding the adaptations, control strategies and fundamental functioning of gait, balance and postural control, within the context of prosthetics and orthotics. Dr. Barnett is a member of the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, where he is also a member of the ISPO Scientific Committee and a member of the ISPO World Congress 2025 Scientific Committee.

Invited Speaker: Fiona Davie-Smith - Clinical Co-ordinator for the Specialist prosthetics Service in Scotland.

Abstract Presentations:

Nicolaas Pickard - A novel approach to measuring mechanical coupling between socket and residual limb in Trans-Radial amputees

Michael Baldock - Adjustable prosthetic sockets: Is motion capture capable of recording the influence of adjustment levels on the residuum-to-socket interface and gait performance? A feasibility study

Antony Crossman - Title TBC

Tiereny McGuire - Title TBC

Diana Toderita - Physical and mental health outcomes of osseointegration for above-knee amputees

Daniel Heitzmann - Title TBC

Sponsor Session: Ottobock

P&O in Low Resource Settings

Friday 1st December - 2pm

Keynote: Carson Harte

Carson Harte is a Prosthetist/Orthotist with over 40 years experiences spanning clinical, educational, and international development roles in both the UK and abroad. Carson is CEO of Exceed Worldwide, formerly the Cambodia Trust, an organisation dedicated to building capacity in Prosthetics and Orthotics, particularly in low-resource settings, and ensuring the delivery of sustainable, quality rehabilitation services where they are most needed. Throughout the 1980s, Carson worked at Musgrave Park Hospital, Belfast as a Prosthetics/Orthotist, before establishing the Cambodia School of Prosthetics and Orthotics in 1994. He went on to develop a Regional Strategic Plan for SE Asia in conjunction with the Nippon Foundation Japan in 2001, leading to the establishment of P&O schools in Sri Lanka (2004), Indonesia (2008), Philippines (2011), and Myanmar (2013). Exceed Worldwide is now coordinating the largest group of P&O training providers in the world. Carson has held prestigious roles within ISPO, including serving on its Executive Board and chairing the Education Standards Committee, where he played a pivotal role in developing new Global Standards in prosthetist/orthotist education. He also founded the Exceed Research Network, creating new interest in P&O related topics and collaborating with various global university partners. For his significant contributions, Harte was awarded the Knud Jansen lecture at the ISPO world congress in India (2013) and the Cambodian Government honoured him with the Gold Medal for Humanitarian Reconstruction in 2000.

Invited Speaker: Clément Favier - Co-founder & CEO of GO Assistive Technology

Abstract Presentations:

Nicolaas Pickard - The introduction of an adjustable socket system for Trans-Radial amputees into a Ugandan clinical service

Caitlin Edgar - Title TBC

Vikranth Nagaraja - Comparing repair practices of upper-limb prosthetics in the United Kingdom and India

Raisul Akram - Mapping Gaps and Synthesising Evidence on Physical and Cognitive Impairments Assessment and Reporting in South Asian Countries: A Scoping Review

Nuwan Chanaka Gunarathne - Meththa Rehabilitation Foundation (MRF) success story of the ‘Hub and Spoke’ model in delivering rehabilitation services to the disabled in remote areas of Sri Lanka: 10 years of experience