When it comes to his job, Zak Malzhan goes out on a limb to improve people’s lives as much as possible.
That’s because Malzhan is a certified prosthetist with Achilles Prosthetics and Orthotics in Templeton and San Luis Obispo.
It’s a job that Malzhan dedicated his life to 20 years ago when he walked into Achilles’ Santa Maria branch looking for a job, and it was Donald Newton, who’s in charge of all three Central Coast offices, who gave it to him.
That was in 1996 and Malzhan was working toward his associate degree at Allan Hancock College at the time. Since then, he graduated from Sonoma State University with a degree in kinesiology, and then Cal State-Dominguez Hills in Long Beach, where he worked in the prosthetic laboratory.
At Achilles, Malzhan helps patients find a proper prosthetic limb, whether it’s an arm, foot, or a leg.
Malzhan’s job is to get his patients back to normal as much as possible. To do that, he evaluates their residual limb—or stump, as he calls it—and what their lifestyle was before amputation. Many times he finds that some of his patients received amputations not through any traumatic means, but because of severe arthritis or a shattered limb that was beyond repair.
He takes their input and crafts an artificial limb specific to their needs.
“Having a prosthetic limb is not a disability,” Malzhan said. “It’s a tool for them to get around and do whatever they want.”
In addition to going to school to specialize in prosthetics, Malzhan has a personal connection to this specialized field: His father is also a patient. Malzhan himself has been designing prosthetic legs for his father for the past 10 years.
Malzhan’s father, Bill, lost his leg at 19 years old when he was run over by a drunk driver. He received an amputation above the knee and was fitted with a wooden leg.
An above-the-knee prosthetic limb is much more difficult to manage, Malzhan said, because the energy expenditure is much higher.
Losing his leg also affected his father’s life in another way: It’s how his parents met. His mother was working as a physical therapist in the VA clinic helping his father when they fell in love.
Nowadays, wooden legs are replaced with more advanced prosthetics that are made of titanium or carbon fiber, and include moving parts, although Malzhan said that some people still prefer wooden ones.
That’s because wooden prosthetics are very durable. In fact, Malzhan’s father used one for years while working as a welder in the oil fields, and continued to work there after receiving a more advanced prosthesis until his retirement about a year and a half ago.
“He’s worked physically harder than I ever have or will ever have,” Malzhan said. “Having a prosthesis was never a limitation for my dad.”
Currently, the prosthetics industry is evolving. There’s technology that involves myoelectrics, which is basically an electrode on top of the skin that triggers a certain muscle that will open or close the hands. There’s also technology that involves electrodes that run through the skin and connect directly to muscle nerves.
However, Malzhan said this technology is a long way off from being put to practical use in the U.S., due to some limitations. Plus, the Food and Drug Administration would have to sign off on it, Malzhan said.
“The problem you run into with a lot of those is when you go into the skin, the skin doesn’t always heal properly because you have something sticking out of you,” Malzhan said.
With all of the research in prosthetics, there’s no telling what could come next.
Staff Writer David Minsky wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 3, 2016.