BioQuest Prosthetics -- Following Natures Lead

BioQuest Prosthetics was founded by Barry Townsend, CPO, and Byron Claudino who shared a simple vision to advance human ambulation through the creation of higher functioning lower extremity prosthetic systems. With nearly 50 years of combined experience treating amputees, they had practical experiences, ideas and a personal quest to improve quality of life for amputees around the world.

Is it possible for a start up company to develop prosthetic foot technology that will outperform the products developed and sold by mega-manufacturers? While initial results are not a predictor of long-term success, there is already solid evidence that BioQuest is onto something that has caught the attention of O&P professionals and industry experts. Jacquelyn Perry, M.D., one of the most respected authors on human gait, wrote Barry to say: “You and your colleagues have made a real breakthrough, which in the long run will probably revolutionize prosthetic design.”

BioQuest Prosthetics is not out to slay existing giants in the prosthetic industry. Along with their professional colleagues and the amputee community, BioQuest’s founders are grateful prosthetic companies like Ossur, Otto Bock, and College Park have elevated the standard of care for hundreds of thousands of amputees around the world. Still, technology has yet to emerge that allows lower limb amputees to walk and run like they have two normal legs.

The logical and risk-free choice for Barry and Byron was to sit on the sidelines and wait for existing prosthetic manufacturers to find new ways to help amputees. Instead, they made the leap of faith they could create prosthetic feet that enable amputees to achieve normal human kinetic power generation. Their concepts for an anterior facing coiled calf shank, the use of artificial muscles, and other proprietary designs, will provide the prosthetic community with exciting new technologies in the years ahead.

Over the past five years, Barry and Byron have secured over 50 patents and patents-pending to protect their intellectual property. They’ve also invested heavily in laboratory testing and patient trials. Professionally recognized gait labs (Stanford, USC, Rancho Los Amigos) and patients have helped them prove BioQuest’s prosthetic designs allow amputees to walk more naturally and with less expenditure of energy.

In 2006, BioQuest made the operational decision to partner with Townsend Design, a leading manufacturer and distributor of orthopedic braces. Townsend Design, which is owned by Barry’s brother Jeff Townsend, is providing strategic planning, marketing and sales support to BioQuest.

In 2006, with the support of a select group of Townsend’s USA sales force, BioQuest offered a limited release of its first product, the PerfectStride. The goal of this initial sales effort was to gain a better understanding of the needs and expectations of practitioners and their patients. At the time, the company was encountering the challenges of securing fair and reasonable coding determination, as existing code descriptors did not exactly match the design and function of the PerfectStride prosthetic foot system.

PerfectStrideII passed ISO testing and received SADMERC determination for billing using the L5987 & L5986 code. Other codes may also apply based on BioQuest’s coding recommendations, insurers’ coding allowances and the patient-specific coding determinations of individual practitioners.