April 28, 2005

Adaptive Prosthetics

Very cool tech coming out of MIT regarding Adaptive Prosthetics. From MedGadget:
Another promising medgadget spotlighted in MIT's Technology Review is a new generation of prosthetics with sensors. One of the scientists involved is MIT's Hugh Herr:

Some of the latest prosthetic knees on the market already have microprocessors built into them that can be programmed to help the limbs move more naturally. But Herr has taken this idea one step further. He has developed a knee with built-in sensors that can measure how far the knee is bent, as well as the amount of force the user applies to it while walking. This artificial knee--recently commercialized by the Icelandic company Ossur--also contains a computer chip that analyzes the sensor data to create a model of the user's gait, and adapt the movement and resistance of the knee accordingly...
Here is the knee:
AdaptiveProsthesis.jpg
Herr has a bit of a vested interest -- he is a double amputee. The Icelandic company Ossur can be found here. Posted by DaveH at April 28, 2005 10:11 PM