What’s New at Tamarack

We’ve made a few updates to the Tamarack website this week, including a redesign of the Tamarack Flexure Joint^® and ShearBan^® pages and development of a new Customer Service page. If you haven’t visited our website lately, stop by www.tamarackhti.com for product updates and fabrication resources. We invite customers to call or email us whenever you have questions or feedback about Tamarack products.

In the next month we expect to release our new black Tamarack Flexure Joints^® in both the free motion and dorsiflexion assist models (not including pediatric size joints). The black color option was developed to create a more cosmetically appealing finish when Tamarack Flexure Joints are installed in carbon fiber or dark thermoplastic orthoses. Stay tuned for more information.

If you didn’t get a chance to stop by our booth at the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association Annual Meeting earlier this month, you probably aren’t aware of our new solution for creating perfect flexure joint cavities, the Tamarack Retrofit Cap^™. We developed this product to facilitate easier, more precise and cost-saving installation of Tamarack Flexure Joints in carbon fiber laminations. The product can also be added to solid ankle orthoses – either custom or off-the-shelf, effectively creating an articulating brace in far less time than fabricating a new device. If you’d like more information about the Tamarack Retrofit Cap – or to be notified when it becomes available from your O&P component supplier, email Tamarack Sales & Marketing.

Have a safe & enjoyable Halloween weekend!

How to Use ShearBan to Eliminate Irritation on Proximal Brims of AFO’s

Have you had trouble achieving comfort with AFO’s due to irritation around the proximal brim? We’ve had excellent results with applying a small strip of ShearBan^® material around the brim of AFO’s. This technique results in a wrinkle-free, cosmetically appealing and functional device that won’t rub AFO wearers the wrong way.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on applying ShearBan^® around the brim of an AFO. This technique can also be used for other braces, including off-the-shelf braces, wrist-hand orthoses and elbow contracture orthoses.

You’ll need:

*A piece of ShearBan^® which you’ll cut to size based on the length of the brim.

*A sharp scissors. We used a small folding scissors, available from many outdoor retailers and also from http://shop.tamarackhti.com. A curved-blade scissors will also do the trick.

Step 1 (below):

Cut a 1.5″ to 2″ wide piece of ShearBan from a sheet of ShearBan (model 749).

Since we are fitting a pediatric brace, our piece measures 1.5″ wide by 7″ long.

Steps 2 & 3 (below):

Apply patch from inside of the AFO so that at least 1″ or about 2/3 of the patch width is inside the brace.

Fold the entire remaining piece of ShearBan over the back side of the brace. Press firmly to secure.

ShearBan is available from O&P product suppliers worldwide. For more ShearBan^® application tips, technical presentations and literature, visit www.shearban.com.

Workshop Schedule Announced for the Texas Chapter AAOP Meeting

If you’re a member of the Texas Chapter of the American Association of Orthotists and Prosthetists (TCAAOP), don’t forget to check out the lineup of workshops at the annual meeting in Austin, Texas; kicking off August 6, 2010. View the complete list of meeting workshops here.

Mark Payette, CO, Tamarack Habilitation Technologies, and Dennis Janisse, C.Ped, National Pedorthic Services, will be presenting: “Diabetic Foot Problems and Novel Ways to Treat Them with ShearBan” on Friday from 8-10am and 3:30-5:30pm. Tamarack^® first introduced ShearBan^® in 1998 as a way to resolve rubbing issues with custom orthoses and brims on prosthetic devices. Over the past few years, Tamarack has made significant improvements to the ShearBan product line, creating a more user-friendly and cosmetically appealing material that’s easier to stretch and lasts longer than ever before. ShearBan is available in 9″x12″ sheets, pre-cut oval patches, rivet cover and cosmetic patches. For more information about ShearBan, visit www.shearban.com.

© 2010 ShearBan is a registered trademark of Tamarack Habilitation Technologies, Inc.

Professional Athletes Seek Blister Prevention & Relief in ENGO Patches

Six years after introducing the consumer version of our ShearBan^® product for friction & shear relief, the staff at Tamarack truly enjoys the customer contact and loyalty we’ve witnessed with ENGO^® Blister Prevention Patches. All the phone calls, emails and letters we receive are encouraging signs that a small company can make a big impact on the enjoyment and health of people around the world.

An order from a professional football (NFL) team today let a few of us to reflect on where this product has been over the past few years. ENGO^® Patches are relied upon for long-lasting blister protection amongst a loyal following of amateur and professional sports teams & individual athletes around the world. We rely on our customers’ blister-free experiences to spread the word about this product.

A few years ago, our little blister product helped a team of physicians reach the summit of Mt. Everest for the Caudwell Xtreme Everest Expedition. Earlier, we learned about a passionate group of ultra distance athletes who kept blisters at bay during a grueling 135 mile battle of physical and mental fortitude, known as the Badwater Ultramarathon. Between the two completely disparate environments, we learned that ENGO^® Patches can withstand some ridiculously hot & cold environments! And today, with the incidence of diabetic foot wounds on the rise, ENGO^® Patches, and its medical industry counterpart (ShearBan®), are helping to protect against skin lesions, callusing and ulcers.

As a small product development and manufacturing company, Tamarack can hardly compete with the promotions of much bigger competitors in the blister care market. What we can do is promise to listen to our customers – addressing questions and feedback and to always deliver products that we stand behind. Our products are uniquely designed and continually improved to address customer feedback and new manufacturing capabilities.

If you experience painful rubbing, blisters, callusing or foot ulcers, we hope you’ll give one of our unique friction & shear products a try.

For Consumers: If you’re a consumer, please visit www.GoENGO.com for more information about ENGO^® Blister Prevention Patches.

For Healthcare Professionals: ShearBan^® offers a heat & vacuum-formable sheet & precut patch solutions for installation on orthotic & prosthetic devices, footwear and insoles. Consult your distributor for more information about ShearBan^®.

Louisiana Orthotics and Prosthetics Meeting in Lafayette, Louisiana – Recap

The Louisiana O&P Association met in Lafayette, Louisiana, May 19 to 22, 2010. It was hot – Temperatures were in the mid-90s with high humidity, but it was still a lively meeting. (We northerners only melted a little around the edges.) Tamarack exhibited with Becker Orthopedic.

The organizers of the meeting did a great job. People like Clint Snell, CPO, of Snell Orthotics and Prosthetics and Justina Shipley, CO, Med, FAAOP, of Shriners Hospital for Children in Shreveport, Louisiana, made everyone feel very welcome.

I attended two seminars. Dennis Janisse, C.Ped, conducted a workshop entitled: “Diabetic Foot Problems and Novel Ways to Treat Them with ShearBan®.” Dennis speaks all over the world on footwear and diabetes and did a superb job. He is in Ghana right now meeting on low-cost footwear for use in developing countries.

Molly Cooper, CPO, LPO, Director of Technical and Clinical Services at SPS, gave an excellent talk on carbon fiber ankle foot orthoses (AFOs). She expertly wove clinical and research data into her talk.

White Paper: Using ShearBan to Offload Shear on the Diabetic Foot

Over the past few years, manufacturers and healthcare professionals in the specialized field of orthotics, prosthetics, pedorthics and podiatry have begun focusing more intensively on the prevention of diabetic foot wounds, including calluses and plantar foot ulcers. With more advanced product technologies, healthcare providers can more effectively evaluate “at-risk” areas for re-ulceration to prevent skin trauma. The results can be limb & life-saving.

Tamarack^® Habilitation Technologies manufactures a unique product called ShearBan^® that effectively offloads shear forces in areas where pressure & friction cause erythema, blisters, calluses and ulcers. ShearBan’s unique low friction surface interfaces the skin to protect it from damaging friction & shear stress.

We encourage you to read our new white paper, entitled: Using ShearBan^® to Offload Shear on the Diabetic Foot. The document details the importance of shear in the etiology of diabetic foot ulcers, current & prior research & key findings on the subject of shear as well as techniques to effectively prevent & relieve shear-induced skin trauma.

For more information about shear offloading and ShearBan^®, visit www.tamarackhti.com

ShearBan^® is a product of Tamarack Habilitation Technologies, Inc. Minneapolis, MN USA.

ShearBan Color Options

Over the years, we’ve had quite a few customers inquire about the difference between Tamarack’s blue and beige-colored ShearBan^® Sheets. We want to let everyone know that there aren’t any physical differences between the two products beyond the colors. So which option is right for you?

ShearBan^® Sheets & Precut Oval Patches are available with a blue low friction top-layer. The blue color offers one distinct difference over its beige counterpart – the wear indicator. After applying ShearBan to footwear, an orthotic device or insole, the blue layer serves as an indicator of when its low-friction benefits are reduced. When you can see the white layer through the blue, it’s time to remove and replace the patch.

ShearBan^® Sheets are also available with a beige (“neutral” or “white”) top layer; as are ShearBan Cosmetic and Rivet Cover Patches. Beige is our most popular ShearBan color thanks to the neutral color that blends in well with the footwear, orthotic or insole material. Although ShearBan is rarely visible to others (since it applies INSIDE the footwear), some people prefer neutral colors. If this is the case, beige ShearBan is right for you.

And that’s it. ShearBan^® is available in two colors, and both provide long-lasting protection from friction & shear forces. If you have any questions about ShearBan, please ask us – we’re happy to help!

E-mail info@tamarackhti.com or give us a call. For more information, visit www.shearban.com.

Tamarack Brings Shear Offloading Technology to Members of the American Physical Therapy Association

On Saturday April 17^th, 2010, two representatives from Tamarack^™ Habilitation Technologies will display a few of Tamarack’s newest products to the Minnesota Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association (MN APTA). While Tamarack’s primary product line focuses on the orthotic/prosthetic and pedorthic industry, a growing number of physical therapists in the USA are seeing patients with skin integrity issues. Tamarack aims to serve a wider market of healthcare providers, including physical therapists, podiatrists and diabetes educators with the new line of shear offloading products.

Tamarack’s latest addition to its ShearBan^® product line, ShearBan^® Ovals target the diabetic foot care market with an effective, easy to use low friction patch. By offloading damaging friction & shear forces on the plantar aspect of a diabetic foot, ShearBan® aides in the protection of healthy skin tissue and helps heal existing skin tissue faster.

New for spring 2010, Tamarack’s GlideWear^™ Seating Interface is a welcome addition to traditional pressure offloading devices. While GlideWear^™ is neither a wheelchair cushion nor a cover, it serves the purpose of offloading damaging shear forces underneath a wheelchair users bony prominences. The lightweight, breathable, dual-layer GlideWear^™ interface applies directly over an existing wheelchair cushion & cover, providing a margin-of-safety from shear trauma. GlideWear^™ will be available in early May 2010 through durable medical equipment dealers across the 5-state region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North and South Dakota.

Lastly, check out our new GlideFree^™ Strip Kits for Transfer Boards. While market testing our GlideWear^™ product last fall, Tamarack’s Research & Development Manager, Mark Payette, CO, heard from wheelchair users and physical therapy professionals that skin integrity is sometimes compromised during transfers between seating surfaces. Tamarack recently launched GlideFree Strip Kits to resolve this issue. Simply apply the thin, low-friction GlideFree^™ Strips to any wood or plastic transfer board to create a smooth, non-tacky surface for wet or dry transfers. GlideFree^™ provides long-lasting protection against damaging friction and shear forces that occur during transfers.

For more information about Tamarack’s latest shear offloading products, including all the above mentioned products and more, visit www.tamarackhti.com.

Coefficient of Friction Testing with Sock, Insole and Orthotic Device Materials

Over the past 15 years Tamarack Habilitation Technologies has done extensive lab research to learn about the static coefficient of friction (CoF) of materials commonly used in the Orthotic and Prosthetic industry. We have always been curious about bare skin as a comparison material.

The CoF is the force resisting the relative lateral (tangential) motion of two material elements in contact, and, we have also been curious about how our existing lab acquired data would correlate with the same materials in a test environment that is closer to real life (living subject testing).

While we are not yet prepared to publish this data, we want to share that we are working on this and have built a new test fixture and developed a method to allow us to incorporate the feet of living subjects in our testing.

In early rounds of testing, we found significant correlation among materials with low static CoF. This is good news for us since we are most interested in low CoF materials. We also found that the dynamic nature of a living subject’s foot seems to influence the results in material pairings that have high static CoF in interesting ways as compared to our lab acquired data. We intend to continue our research in this area for a better understanding of these interesting results – and to continue learning how they relate to the issue of skin integrity.

Tamarack Lab CoF Test                        

Tamarack Living Subject CoF Test

Both test methods utilize the inclined plane method for testing static coefficient of friction.

For more information about Tamarack’s product & materials testing research, visit the Tamarack Product Reassurance page on our website.

Shear Offloading for Orthotic and Prosthetic Brim Applications

Today’s blog post highlights one of the most common locations for friction-induced skin trauma – the brims of orthotic devices such as an ankle foot orthosis (AFO) or prosthetic socket. These locations are notorious for causing painful rubbing against the skin due to significant shear & pressure forces.

Using a low-friction, adhesive-backed material such as ShearBan^® as an interface between the device and skin, the once-damaging shear forces caused by a combination of high friction and pressure, are now reduced to safe levels. Skin trauma will not occur.

SHEARBAN^® BRIM APPLICATION EXAMPLE

1. Cut ShearBan to the desired shape. Allow extra material for wrapping over the edge of the device. Install ShearBan against the inner surface first.
2. Pull ShearBan tightly around the brim to keep the edge smooth. If desired, heat the patch slightly to help stretch around the device brim.
3. Once stretched over the device, press firmly around entire patch surface to ensure adhesion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information about ShearBan^®, visit www.shearban.com. Additional ShearBan application techniques and recommendations are highlighted in the ShearBan Product Guide.