A motorized artificial knee that “learns” its user’s walking style and then adjusts its performance accordingly has just been introduced into the United States. Besides building a database about a user’s walking style, the knee can make adjustments on the fly, taking into account changes in speed, terrain, and stride.
The Össur POWER KNEETM, manufactured by an international orthopedics company headquartered in Iceland, has already been fitted on three U.S. amputees by Bulow BioTech Prosthetics, a southeastern U.S. company.
The “smart” knee allows amputees to properly balance their weight and stride between their artificial limb below the knee and their natural limb above it. As a result, the time spent learning to balance and walk on an artificial limb is considerably reduced.