Survival Tech - A Smarter Knee From: Massachusetts General Hospital Dispatches from the Frontiers of Medicine Proto Magazine - Winter 2006 - page 24 By: Michael Lasalandra and Lindsay Holmwood An ebbing death rate from battle wounds means a rising tide of maimed survivors, including hundreds of blast victims absent a limb. Though Hugh Herr didn't lose his legs in war - it was from frostbite on a mountain-climbing trip - he can empathize, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, the mechanical engineer is working on a prosthesis that could dramatically improve the lives of wounded soldiers and civilian amputees. The Rheo prosthetic knee uses artificial intelligence and a battery-powered microprocessor to "learn" an individual's walking style. Sensors measure changing joint positions and weight placement at a rate of 1,000 times a second, while a magnetorheologic actuator - using a magnetic field and an electromagnet - increases or decreases resistance at every step. Herr also has plans for an advanced foot-ankle prosthesis. In fact, he says, a new generation of lifelike limb systems may be only four to five years away. Read the article at: http://www.protomag.com/issues/2006_winter/survival_tech_p2.html Photo of knee http://www.protomag.com/issues/2006_winter/images/survival_knee.jpg Links: Hugh Herr http://biomech.media.mit.edu/people/herr.htm Rheo Knee http://www.ossur.com/template110.asp?PageID=1780 http://www.mutualortho.com/technology.asp A Magnetorheological Transfemoral Knee Prosthesis http://biomech.media.mit.edu/research/pro3_1.htm Ossur's Rheo Knee Promises Less Fatigue, More Confidence http://www.oandp.com/facilities/tx/mpi/fea15.htm First Rheo Prosthetic Knee Fit on a Texan http://www.oandp.com/facilities/tx/mpi/fea13.htm Award for breakthrough Rheo Knee http://beta2.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-09/o-ocf092205.php Bionic Knee Hits Market http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/4759189/detail.html The Rheo Knee from MIT adjusts and learns on the go http://www.engadget.com/2005/12/03/the-rheo-knee-from-mit-adjusts-and-learns-on-the-go/ 'Smart' knee adjusts to gait, stance and makes walking easier for amputees http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2005/05/17/life/life01.txt