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Artificial Leg with Sensors Helps People Feel Every Step
A new artificial leg is equipped with sensors that allow users to feel when the leg flexes (as it does during walking) and lands on the ground.
Credit: Getty Images
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have developed an artificial leg equipped with sensors that allow users to feel when the leg flexes and lands on the ground.
The researchers took a commercially available prosthetic leg and installed sensors on the sole of the foot and inside the knee; the sensors can be connected via wires to nerves in the user's thigh.
The researchers found that users reported less phantom limb pain, and were able to walk up to six meters per minute faster using the new artificial leg.
"Being able to perceive the motion of your joints is incredibly important,” said Aadeel Akhtar of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “It makes you feel like the prosthetic becomes your own.”
From New Scientist
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Abstracts Copyright © 2019 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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