Kevin Carroll walked into an examination room at Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics on Thursday and closely evaluated Roy Cartwright's new prosthetic leg.
Using a computer cord, Carroll connected his laptop to a microprocessor within the prosthetic kneecap and studied the readings from sensors in the leg's ankle. This information, he said, details how the knee is communicating with its foot.
“He's done remarkably well with this knee,” Carroll said about Cartwright, a 69-year-old resident from Elizabeth City. “He's willing to embrace a new technology. Change can be good.”
Carroll, vice president of prosthetics for Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, who is widely known for developing the first prosthetic tail for dolphins, examined more than 20 local amputees and their prosthetic limbs during the day at no cost. Greenville is his final stop on a trip through North Carolina, which also included stops in Raleigh and Rocky Mount.