Previous prostheses for replacing a missing limb following amputation must be worn externally on the body. This limits the extent to which prostheses could physically interface with biological tissues, such as muscles, to enhance functional recovery. The objectives of our study were to (1) test the feasibility of implanting a limb prosthesis, or endoprosthesis, entirely within living skin at the distal end of a residual limb, and (2) identify effective surgical and post-surgical care approaches for implanting endoprostheses in a rabbit model of hindlimb amputation. We iteratively designed, fabricated, and implanted unjointed endoprosthesis prototypes in six New Zealand White rabbits following amputation. In the first three rabbits, the skin failed to heal due to ishemia and dehiscence along the sutured incision. The skin of the final three subsequent rabbits successfully healed over the endoprotheses. Factors that contributed to successful outcomes included modifying the surgical incision to preserve vasculature; increasing the radii size on the endoprostheses to reduce skin stress; collecting radiographs pre-surgery to match the bone pin size to the medullary canal size; and ensuring post-operative bandage integrity. These results will support future work to test jointed endoprostheses that can be attached to muscles.

以前用于在截肢后替换缺失肢体的假肢必须佩戴在身体外部。这限制了假肢与生物组织（如肌肉）物理接触以增强功能恢复的程度。我们研究的目的是 (1) 测试将假肢或内置假体完全植入残肢远端的活体皮肤内的可行性，以及 (2) 确定有效的手术和手术后植入护理方法后肢截肢兔模型中的假体。我们在截肢后的六只新西兰白兔身上反复设计、制造和植入了无关节假体原型。在前三只兔子中，由于缝合切口处的缺血和开裂，皮肤未能愈合。最后三只随后的兔子的皮肤在内置假体上成功愈合。促成成功结果的因素包括修改手术切口以保留脉管系统；增加内置假体的半径大小以减少皮肤压力；在术前收集 X 光片，使骨针尺寸与髓管尺寸相匹配；并确保术后绷带的完整性。这些结果将支持未来测试可以连接到肌肉的关节内假体的工作。并确保术后绷带的完整性。这些结果将支持未来测试可以连接到肌肉的关节内假体的工作。并确保术后绷带的完整性。这些结果将支持未来测试可以连接到肌肉的关节内假体的工作。