Hand crafted: a Brandon-based company changes lives with an innovative prosthetics technology.

For a person who has suffered the loss of a limb, whether congenital or from a trauma, it's tough to overcome the stares from others. A preacher tries to deliver his sermon while knowing his congregation is more focused on his missing arm than on his message. A beautiful model can't get work because of her disfigured hand. A doctor's patients are distracted by his mechanical arm instead of listening to his diagnosis.

Hundreds of people like these now have the use of functional limbs that look incredibly lifelike, thanks to the pioneering work of a Brandon firm called Alatheia Prosthetics that offers a new way of life to those who have suffered limb loss.

"People don't want to be stared at," says Michael Kaczkowski, co-founder and president of Alatheia. "Providing them with a prosthesis that looks like the real thing brings the attention back to them, not their disability."

Alatheia's patented prosthetic technology, "Dermatos," is made from hypoallergenic medical-grade silicone with layers that mimic the layers found in human skin. Dermatos, a Greek word meaning "of skin," can be made to cover existing prosthetic devices or can be formed to make a prosthesis as small as a fingertip or as large as a leg.

Combining technology with artistry is nothing new for Kaczkowski. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York, New York, he began experimenting with body casting as a teenager. He later worked for a prosthetics company, where he helped patients deal with their limb loss while becoming familiar with the medical-grade materials available to the prosthetics industry.

"There are engineers on my mother's side and artists on my father's side," smiles Kaczkowski. "But both sides are all business." By combining his unique talents with the experience he gained working in New York, Kaczkowski was ready to establish a company that would take the prosthetics field to the next level.

Kaczkowski and his business partner Emil Dovan founded Alatheia in 1999 and spent five years in research and development, improving their product through the use of dyes and silicones. "Subdermal pigmentation is not a new concept," notes Kaczkowski, "but we've perfected it. We differ from other companies in the way we make our product."

Alatheia serves clients all over the world, both from its Brandon headquarters, which employs 15 people, and through a network of affiliates. Kaczkowski and Dovan have strengthened their commitment to central Mississippi by expanding their company and will soon move the manufacturing operations to the downtown Jackson area near Millsaps College.

Using an impression made from a patient's limb, medical artists and sculptors cast a wax form that allows them to use as much of the detail of nature as possible. From the wax form, a master mold is created. The Dermatos skin is then made, and each layer is custom-painted by a medical artist who takes great care to match the skin to the patient's own skin through either a "chairside" consultation with the patient or through a color-matching kit used by one of Alatheia's affiliates. The result is a custom-fitted prosthesis that looks and feels like a real limb.

"People 'talk' with their hands, so in terms of communication, the hands are an extension of the face," Kaczkowski observes. "Making hands look real is almost like having a face prosthesis."

Attention to detail is Alatheia's specialty. Dermatos skin has pores, creases, and fingerprints for maximal realism. Fingernails are individually made and custom-colored and can even be painted with nail polish. When a patient gets a suntan on his real skin, he can apply a topical prosthetic melanin called "Derma-tan" to the Dermatos skin, which is absorbed into the epidermis layer. Every detail is designed to make the patient's life as normal as possible.

The ultimate proof that this technology is improving clients' lives is in the long list of glowing testimonials from those who actually wear the limbs every day. "My patients are relaxed and are not even aware of my amputation!" says the doctor. Adds the model, "Now my hand looks normal. It's beautiful."

"One of our patients told us," recalls Kaczkowski, "that the best thing we did for her was to allow her to go to Wal-Mart without having anyone stare at her."