On June 18, 2004, Ohio Willow Wood announced that it had received the Gold Medical Design Excellence Award (MDEA) for its limb-shape capturing device, the Omega^® T-Ring^™. Sponsored by Canon Communications LLC, the MDEA competition is the only awards program that recognizes those who design and create groundbreaking medical product innovations.

The Omega^® T-Ring^™ is a unique CAD device that is used by practitioners around the world in the creation of custom fitted lower limb prosthetic sockets. The Omega^® T-Ring^™ is designed to replace the traditional use of plaster in acquiring the shape of a patient's residual limb by capturing a highly accurate, three dimensional image of a patient's residual limb in less than 1/100th of a second! The digital image captured with the Omega^® T-Ring^™ can then be reviewed, modified by the practitioner and sent to a carving system through the use of the dynamic Tracer Technology.

The full Omega^® T-Ring^™ System utilizes Tracer Technology to minimize a practitioner's time with fabrication tasks, improve office efficiency with unparalleled documentation of patient information and increase the amount of time the clinician has to spend with patients. Because of its lightweight design and portable capabilities, the Omega^® T-Ring^™ can be used in traditional clinical settings, in- patient or post-op hospitals, convalescent/assisted living facilities, or even in the homes of shut-ins.

"We are honored and thrilled to receive the Gold Medal. We are constantly striving to develop products that will improve the lives of practitioners and amputees alike, and the Omega^® T-Ring^™ symbolizes these efforts," said Mark Ford, Director of Marketing at Ohio Willow Wood.

Ohio Willow Wood also won a Gold MDEA medal in 2001 for its Pathfinder^® and is committed to developing high-quality products for lower-limb amputees so that they can truly free the body…free the spirit.