Bionic leg builder makes huge step in prosthetics
Humans are now even closer to a Six Million Dollar Man bionic body, thanks to the world's first motorised prosthetic knee, which is now readily available to lower-limb amputees in parts of Europe and the US. The Power Knee, from orthopaedic and prosthetic specialist Óssur, is said to be the first artificial leg pivot to function …
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flash dance
First the motorised knee, next we'll be seeing an ROTM piece on how motorised arms severed "old bill"!
Dont trust the technology!!!
Warranty
It's a step forward.
But I would be worried if it came with a life time warranty, as it probably means that it electrocutes you when it fails.
Joking apart, serious thumbs up for the developer, this could improve the qualitity of life for a lot people.
Is that prototype missing the bionic eye?
...and maybe they can fix one of Steve Austin's shortcomings: give him a bionic back so that when he lifts a car, his spine doesn't collapse.
Wireless capabilities??
So, technically, an unsecure knee could be hacked?? Imagine the pandemonium that would cause!! Actually, I could connect it to my old Amiga and use it as a kickstart rom :)
On a serious note, a couple of my running pals are amputees, so it's a thumbs up from me (and a pint for the developers).
Would give a whole new mean meaning to...
Hackneyed approach: hack-kneed
But, if one loses ONE leg, there is no hope of running at 60 mph, let alone 30 mph. Maybe 6/2.5, or 30/2.2. Then again, it might result in one burned out shoe, or a person being a real pogo stick. Dodging bullets might be more intuitive, but landing in the wrong spot would make things ENDtuitive...
Homing Legs
A little bit of GPS magic could pave the way to post-pub homing legs - with way points so you can stop for a kebab.
"We hoped the company would promise...
"... a future version of the prosthetic with limited precognition, allowing it to walk the owner away from unseen danger. But it didn't."
Thank Zarquon for that! Remember the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Happy Vertical People Transporters?
Imagine what would happen if your artificial leg suddenly decided it wanted participation in the direction decision making process and went on strike or started walking in the opposite direction...
(Mine's the one with the book in the pocket that has "Don't Panic" written in large friendly letters on the cover)
Alright
I'm just gonna ask the question we've all been wondering. Will this enable the user to do a karate kick with superhuman strength?
Generic Title
I'm getting visions of a Terminator 2-like moment, (this scene in particular: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mStmiGS43jQ )
if will smith taught us anything
it's that we have to become like the robots to defeat them (or at least get an artificial arm and lead them to salvation from slavery to Viki and the 3 laws - very messianic film)
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