Prosthetic Knee Receives Standing Ovation
From: Medical Product Manufacturing News - June, 2001 - page 10
http://www.devicelink.com/mpmn/
By: Zachary Turke

A prosthetic knee designed by Lord Corp. (Gary, NC; http://www.lord.com) was
recently awarded the Smart Structures Product Implementation award at the
International Society for Optical Engineering`s Symposium on Smart Structures
and Materials. This device uses a versatile magneto-rheological fluid that
adjusts quickly to varying demands to closely recreate a natural gait.
Exposure to a magnetic field changes the material from a liquid to a near
solid state, offering the different amounts of resistance needed to complete
such difficult tasks as climbing stairs. The technology was modified from a
truck-seat damper and offers responsiveness roughly 20 times faster than
previous state-of-the-art devices. The award is shared with Biedermann Motech
GmbH (Schwennigen, Germany; http://www.biedermann.com), who helped to design
and produce the product.  

Caption: This smart-structure prosthetic knee from Lord Corp. was honored at
a recent SPIE symposium.