Amputees Say Advanced Bionic Leg Feels More Like a Part of Their Body
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Summary
Researchers at MIT have created a bionic leg, attached directly to the user’s leg bone for stability.
Electrical activity from nearby muscles is recorded to translate into smooth movement.
Two test subjects found using the leg felt like it was part of their body.
The leg consisted of a titanium rod inserted into the upper leg bone and 16 electrodes to capture muscle activity.
The new approach to surgical amputation, called AMI, reconnects severed muscle pairs in the residual limb.
A small piece of muscle from another part of the body is attached to nerves in the stump, allowing the muscle pairs to send out electrical signals that can be used to control the movement of the prosthetic limb.
