Amputee Care

• Amputee Clinic
• Amputee Physical and Occupational Therapy
• Recreational Therapy & Adaptive Sports
• Computer Assisted Rehab Environment (CAREN)
• Center for Performance and Clinical Research (CPCR)

Amputee Clinic

From injury to independence. Dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of America’s sons and daughters recovering from injuries sustained in service, the Military Advanced Training Center (MATC) is a state-of-the-art facility located at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Wounded, Ill and Injured Service Members, Retirees and Family Members use sophisticated prosthetics and cutting-edge athletic equipment to confirm pre-injury capabilities as they restore their sense of selves.

The MATC uses a Sports Medicine model which offers much of the same sports and exercise equipment as found at the finest sports rehabilitation training rooms across the country. Many of the same fitness drills practiced by professional athletes are replicated by the Service Members to work on core strength, balance and stability.

The total focus of MATC’s expert staff is to match the drive and determination of these service members— build their strength, skills and confidence and return them to the highest level of physical, emotional and psychological functional ability. A major goal of the MATC is to enable the Service Members to make their own choices and not let their futures be dictated by the injuries sustained.

We serve active duty, retired and family members. Appointments are made by referral from the Amputee Clinic held by the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service.

Amputee Physical and Occupational Therapy

The MATC is setting world-class standards of care and providing the leading edge in rehabilitative as well as prosthetic care. The comprehensive effort of rehabilitation is where physical and occupational therapists follow the Service Members from their initial evaluations through their discharge from the hospital, course of outpatient rehabilitation and return to active duty or civilian life.

The Prosthetics Service, offering a full range of prosthetic and orthotic services, uses state of the art advanced prosthetic limb technology for design, milling, and production of prosthetic devices. Prosthetic devices are manufactured and fit and adjusted in the Orthotics and Prosthetics Service which is adjacent to the MATC to enable the Prosthetists to work closely with the physical and occupational therapists to ensure the best possible fit and utilization of the prosthetic devices.

Recreational Therapy & Adaptive Sports

Walter Reed recognizes the importance of recreational ad adaptive sports to well being and recovery. The Recreational Therapy staff coordinates a community re-integration program that offers a wide variety of experiences outside the clinic setting including trips to public venues like shopping areas, movie theaters, restaurants and museums.

The program provides adaptive sports activities such as scuba diving, therapeutic horseback riding, basketball, cycling, running and golf which allow the patients to be challenged and helps provide meaning and purpose. Additionally the MATC offers a Service/Therapy Dog program, which is coordinated for the facility to make referrals for patients who request a service animal.

Computer Assisted Rehab Environment (CAREN)

One of ten of its kind in the world, the CAREN provides a safe, controlled setting where patients can work on balance, coping with stress, using new prosthetics and other skills necessary to achieve functional real-life goals. Using specialized cameras and computers linked to sensors on their bodies, recovering Service Members interact with a virtual world projected onto a life-sized curved screen by shifting their weight on a motion platform with an embedded treadmill. More than 70 scenarios enable recovering Service Members to perform virtual activities such as steering a boat through buoys in a lake or replicate running up and down trails in woods, or walking through city streets without fear of falling.

Center for Performance and Clinical Research (CPCR)

The Gait Lab of the Center for Performance and Clinical Research (CPCR) uses sophisticated motion analysis equipment (27 infra-red cameras, reflective markers and six force plates) to quantify the patients’ movement. The information gained through motion analysis helps care providers to evaluate or modify physical therapy programs and prosthetic and orthotic components. The ultimate goal is to facilitate improvement of functional tasks such as walking, running and jumping.