Microprocessor-Controlled Prostheses Are a Step in the Right Direction
From: Medical Design Briefs - 04/01/2015

It's not always easy to walk in someone else's shoes. It’s even more
difficult if those shoes belong to a person with an artificial leg. However,
that's exactly what a group of scientists, engineers, and clinicians at
Orthocare Innovations are doing to help engineer prostheses that respond
better to the physical needs of amputees.

Orthocare is a small R&D company in Mountlake Terrace, WA, that develops
smart prosthetic components with microprocessor controls for people who have
lost a limb, particularly a leg or foot. These technical advances have
resulted from scientific studies conducted at the company's gait lab, where
cutting edge technologies are being used to conduct intricate motion research
that has led to the company’s prosthetic advancements.

Orthocare conducts its product R&D at its gait lab - one of only three such
laboratories in the world operated by prosthetics companies, and the only one
located in the US. Here, scientists, engineers, and clinicians conduct gait
studies while developing new prosthetic devices, including Orthocare's latest
device: the Magellan microprocessor-controlled foot. The key to analyzing a
person's gait is to look at how their entire body moves, not only as they
walk, but also as they are in a restive state. To this end, the researchers
use a Vicon motion-capture system to quantify the movement and forces related
to the prosthesis and the person's body.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.medicaldesignbriefs.com/component/content/article/1105-mdb/features/21829-microprocessor-controlled-prostheses-are-a-step-in-the-right-direction

Link:
Orthocare Innovations
http://www.orthocareinnovations.com/