Vincent Lau is a Certified and Licensed Prosthetist Orthotist and the Market President at Limb Lab in Omaha, Nebraska. He specializes in upper limb prosthetics, including myoelectric systems and partial hand and partial finger prostheses, and he fits microprocessor knees and the C-Brace stance-control orthosis for lower limb patients, along with pediatric prosthetics and orthotics.
Vince came to the field as an engineer, inspired to design prosthetic components after watching a TV show of a clinician building a prosthesis. At the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) he shadowed at a local clinic and saw a young man stand on his prosthesis for the first time, walk again, and smile. Vince redirected toward patient care but never stopped designing.
Both instincts show up in how he practices. Patients often travel hours to reach him, some for upper limb prostheses, others from rural Nebraska and western Iowa. And since conventional Symes prostheses allow almost no ankle motion, Vince designed the Dynamic Strut Symes Prosthesis, which displayed 12 degrees of motion in its first case study and was presented at the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association.
Vince earned his Master of Prosthetics and Orthotics from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and completed his residencies in Kansas City. He lectures in the physical therapy and occupational therapy programs at Creighton University, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and Methodist College; teaches biomechanics students at UNO; and built prosthetics and orthotics curriculum for the College of Saint Mary Physical Therapy Program.
As Nebraska state co-lead of So Every BODY Can Move, Vince worked with State Senator John Cavanaugh to introduce bills that would require insurance coverage for prostheses and orthoses used in physical activity, as presented on the American Physical Therapy Association podcast.
A first-generation American born and raised in Omaha, he returned home to practice. He and his wife are raising their kids in the city where they both grew up.