How it began
Ossur Kristinsson was born with a limb difference below the knee and trained in Sweden as a certified prosthetist orthotist. In 1971 he founded an orthotics and prosthetics clinic in Reykjavik. According to the company he founded, he set out as an amputee himself to design and make a new attachment system for prostheses, and developed a silicone interface for prosthetic sockets called the Iceross liner. The trade journal The O&P EDGE describes Iceross as the first silicone liner in the world and reports that it received its first global patent in 1986.
How it works
A prosthetic leg attaches to the body through a rigid socket that fits over the residual limb. The Iceross liner is a soft silicone sleeve worn directly on the skin between the limb and the socket. It serves two jobs that the trade press names together: comfort for the limb and suspension, meaning it helps hold the socket on. Kristinsson also developed early versions of a socket made directly on the limb, which the company continues to sell as its direct socket.
What lasted
The O&P EDGE states that the Iceross liner became the standard of care for limb comfort and socket suspension. The clinic Kristinsson founded in 1971 grew into a company that operates in 36 countries and employs more than 4,000 people, and the original clinic in Reykjavik is still in operation. Kristinsson received the Lifetime Achievement award from the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association in 2023.
Where it stands today
Silicone liners remain a core product line of the company that bears his first name. Kristinsson left the firm in 2005 to found Rafnar, where he spent ten years developing a patented boat hull in cooperation with the Icelandic Coast Guard and the Icelandic Search and Rescue Association. He died on February 6, 2024, at the age of 81.
