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PRECISION TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Hugh Herr led the research to develop the computerized ankle.

A computerized prosthetic ankle and foot designed for soldiers who have lost their limbs due to improvised explosive devices was unveiled by a research team in July.

What makes this particular prosthesis unusual is that it has a built-in power source as well as multiple springs to mimic a real human ankle, according to a Reuters report. That gives users the ability to walk with more propulsion, which in turn could reduce the limping and back pain that some users of prosthetic feet and ankles contract.

The research team was led by Hugh Herr, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA). To commercialize the device, Herr has formed a company, iWalk, which will also be based in Cambridge. The firm hopes the device will be commercially available by summer 2008.

Herr himself has used the device, as his legs were amputated below the knee after a mountain climbing accident when he was 17. He told Reuters that walking with the computerized device feels like being on a moving airport walkway.

Because the device can generate its own momentum, it does not take much effort to walk. Sensors and a microprocessor measure walking speed, terrain, and the body’s position. From those readings, the prosthesis can adjust the amount of power supplied.