Three years ago, Robert Johnson had his right leg amputated above the knee due to bone cancer. He was fitted with a prosthetic leg that connected to his residual limb with a cuplike shell or “socket,” traditionally the only type of prosthesis available.

However, the socket didn’t fit well, resulting in painful skin irritations. The leg was difficult to walk on or even stand on, and it sometimes fell off.

The husband and father could not work, exercise or even pick up his young daughter for fear he would fall and drop her.

But thanks to an innovative procedure known as osseointegration, performed by Lawrence Menendez, MD, an orthopaedic oncologist with Keck Medicine of USC and a professor of clinical orthopaedic surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, life has opened up for Robert.

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