Intelligent Prosthetics for Natural Movements at electronica
From: ECN Magazine - 08/16/2010

electronica 2010 will showcase a world first in medical electronics: a
prosthetic leg that moves in response to the wearer's thoughts. This
remarkable achievement was developed by American biophysicist Hugh Herr, a
professor at MIT, Freescale Semiconductor and the Fraunhofer Institute for
Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA. 

Project Manager Alfred von Rosenberg, from the Fraunhofer Institute for
Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, explains the approach: "Our aim
was to develop a control system that identifies the artificial limb wearer's
desired movement." The key to this innovation is that the voluntary signal is
determined in real time. The prosthesis can thus respond to voluntary
thoughts and execute the wearer's wish. 

It is all based on ingenious technology: the prosthetic limb incorporates an
array of sensors to measure all activity signals from the leg muscles. "So
the artificial limb knows whether its wearer is currently standing, walking,
sitting or running," added IPA Project Manager Harald von Rosenberg. Pressure
sensors that are sandwiched beneath the electronic sensors identify when the
amputee shifts their full weight onto the artificial limb. The voluntary
control is actuated by EMG. 

In 2011 the company iWalk will start volume production with the prosthetic
lower leg "PowerFoot One". "When I move my legs in my thoughts, the
prosthetic legs move," explained the researcher. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.ecnmag.com/news/2010/08/tradeshow/Intelligent-Prosthetics-for-Natural-Movements.aspx

Links:
PowerFoot One
http://www.iwalkpro.com/products.html

Hugh Herr
http://biomech.media.mit.edu/people/herr.htm