Is Your Client a Suitable Candidate for Freehand?

Case managers must have their clients carefully evaluated by both an occupational therapist and a hand surgeon before recommending implantation of the Freehand System developed by NeuroControl in Cleveland. (For more details on the Freehand System, see box, p. 196.)

The manufacturer says patients who may benefit from the device include:

- individuals who have use of their shoulder, upper arm and elbow; who may or may not have use of their wrist; and have no use of their hands;

- individuals who have adequate range of motion and forearm and hand muscles that respond to stimulation by electrical impulses;

- individuals who are skeletally mature.