mk99
12-09-2002, 05:08 PM
World's 1st bionic leg developed
'Mini-brain in your knee'
Peter Brieger
National Post
Monday, December 09, 2002
It sounds like something ripped from the seventies action series The Six Million Dollar Man, but a Quebec company says it has developed the world's first bionic leg for amputees.
Victhom Human Bionics Inc., a Quebec City-based firm, plans to have a product on the market by late next year, a motorized limb that is being billed as ''revolutionary.''
''There has been great feedback from amputees,'' said Stéphane Bédard, the company's founder and chief scientific officer.
''They say they can walk properly with our prosthesis, which is exactly what we wanted: for people to walk naturally.''
Victhom's leg won't help amputees clear fences with nuclear power, but the technology is different because it works with, not against, the wearer, Mr. Bédard said.
The so-called intelligent leg contains a miniature computerized controller that monitors an amputee's movement and learns to direct the limb's motion.
Victhom's leg is under the control of the wearer's motor nerve system rather than just providing a mechanical system for moving the limb.
''It's basically like putting a mini-brain in your knee that would be at your service,'' said Jacques Vanden-Abeele, a professor in the departments of computer engineering and neurology at the Université de Sherbrooke.
Dr. Vanden-Abeele added that the technology could be particularly useful for older people, who make up a significant portion of the prosthetic market but don't have the strength to master conventional products.
Victhom's roots trace back several years when the now 35-year-old Mr. Bédard landed in a rehab clinic with a skiing injury.
Trained in electrical and mechanical engineering, he noticed how amputees at the clinic struggled with prosthetics that were uncomfortable, required huge amounts of energy to move and were out of sync with the patient.
So Mr. Bédard set out to develop a leg that reduces those problems and even allows for complex movements, such as navigating stairs, while eliminating the pelvis-twisting ''hop'' often associated with amputees who must compensate with other parts of their body.
Ensuring a natural walking style is key to the technology's success, said Lynette Jones, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology near Boston.
''Unless walking becomes almost automatic, it won't work,'' she said. ''[Amputees] want to be able to walk without thinking too much about it.''
While bionic limbs are not new -- artificial arms and hands have met with limited success -- Victhom's leg promises to surpass the best lower-limb technology on the market, which costs upward of US$35,000.
The company is aiming to tap a market that sees 260,000 lower-limb amputations in the United States a year from diabetes, heart disease and car accidents.
pbrieger@nationalpost.com
© Copyright 2002 National Post
'Mini-brain in your knee'
Peter Brieger
National Post
Monday, December 09, 2002
It sounds like something ripped from the seventies action series The Six Million Dollar Man, but a Quebec company says it has developed the world's first bionic leg for amputees.
Victhom Human Bionics Inc., a Quebec City-based firm, plans to have a product on the market by late next year, a motorized limb that is being billed as ''revolutionary.''
''There has been great feedback from amputees,'' said Stéphane Bédard, the company's founder and chief scientific officer.
''They say they can walk properly with our prosthesis, which is exactly what we wanted: for people to walk naturally.''
Victhom's leg won't help amputees clear fences with nuclear power, but the technology is different because it works with, not against, the wearer, Mr. Bédard said.
The so-called intelligent leg contains a miniature computerized controller that monitors an amputee's movement and learns to direct the limb's motion.
Victhom's leg is under the control of the wearer's motor nerve system rather than just providing a mechanical system for moving the limb.
''It's basically like putting a mini-brain in your knee that would be at your service,'' said Jacques Vanden-Abeele, a professor in the departments of computer engineering and neurology at the Université de Sherbrooke.
Dr. Vanden-Abeele added that the technology could be particularly useful for older people, who make up a significant portion of the prosthetic market but don't have the strength to master conventional products.
Victhom's roots trace back several years when the now 35-year-old Mr. Bédard landed in a rehab clinic with a skiing injury.
Trained in electrical and mechanical engineering, he noticed how amputees at the clinic struggled with prosthetics that were uncomfortable, required huge amounts of energy to move and were out of sync with the patient.
So Mr. Bédard set out to develop a leg that reduces those problems and even allows for complex movements, such as navigating stairs, while eliminating the pelvis-twisting ''hop'' often associated with amputees who must compensate with other parts of their body.
Ensuring a natural walking style is key to the technology's success, said Lynette Jones, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology near Boston.
''Unless walking becomes almost automatic, it won't work,'' she said. ''[Amputees] want to be able to walk without thinking too much about it.''
While bionic limbs are not new -- artificial arms and hands have met with limited success -- Victhom's leg promises to surpass the best lower-limb technology on the market, which costs upward of US$35,000.
The company is aiming to tap a market that sees 260,000 lower-limb amputations in the United States a year from diabetes, heart disease and car accidents.
pbrieger@nationalpost.com
© Copyright 2002 National Post