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Sensory
Feedback Systems
 Our bodies
rely on continual communication
between our limbs and our mind in
order to perform the required and
intended movements with precision,
dexterity, and coordination. New
developments from the research and
development team include a Sensory
Feedback System, an effort to restore
communication from the prosthesis
to the amputee.
Sensors incorporated
in the prosthesis respond proportionately
to the environment and send signals
to a microprocessor, which interprets
the signals and in turn sends them
to stimulators located on the skin
of the patient’s
residual limb. The mind of the patient
interprets the sensations generated
by the prosthesis, called cerebral
projections, as if they were generated
by their anatomical limb. In other
words, the patients feel their residual
limb as if it were actually reconnected
to their body.
The Sensory
Feedback System provides several
benefits to the wearer. First and
foremost, it provides the patient
with sensory feedback, restoring
the senses that were lost due to
amputation. It enables the amputee
to sense that the prosthesis is an
extension of their own body, provides
psychological benefits, and may significantly
reduce phantom pain. Initial trials
with the system are providing fascinating
results and clearly demonstrate the
mind’s ability to sense touch
at a distance from the body.
The described Sensory Feedback
System is currently being developed
at our facility and has attracted
national and international attention
from the scientific community. Prosthetics
of the future will definitely require
communication between the body and
the prosthesis, and we intend to
lead innovation efforts to bring
the necessary technology to establish
communication to the practical arena
within the next few years.
Computer-Controlled Prosthetics
 The more
the human body and its many aspects
including appearance, control systems,
and biomechanical movements can
be mimicked, the more functional,
safe, and lifelike the amputee’s abilities will become. We
believe the way to successfully mesh
man and machine is incorporating
computer-controlled prosthetics,
which is currently a focus of our
research. Using artificial
intelligence with adaptive control
algorithms, our designs allow the
prosthesis to sense, think, and respond
to the environment.
Our patented
computer-controlled prosthetic
joint designs employ a microprocessor
that provides the appropriate biomechanical
function, optimal resistance, and
joint angle independent of gait
speed and/or terrain. Computer-controlled
systems improve the safety, symmetry,
and functional abilities of the amputee
and may be used on the majority of
lower-extremity amputees, including
below-knee, above-knee, and hip disarticulation
levels.
Because of
the advanced nature of the control
program, computer-controlled designs
are able to provide adaptations
to the gait pattern as well as sensory
feedback much like the human brain
controls anatomical limbs. It
is anticipated that this technology
will become commercially available
within the next two to three years.
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