Oklahoma City – Great strides in technology are inevitable in times of war – sadly so, Scott Sabolich said.

“Every time a war occurs, you see an increase in technology for prosthetics, which is good, because every 20 years or so we get a boost in research money for better materials,” said the owner and clinical director of Scott Sabolich Prosthetics & Research.

“The crazy thing is that it takes about 1,000 military veterans to lose their legs in the war in Iraq to bring about these kinds of things,” he said. “Little do people know that really about 3,000 people each week lose a limb in the United States, and there are another 56,000 a year that go on day in and day out with the same old technology until a few soldiers lose their legs.”

The latest boost comes in the form of an ankle: Proprio Foot, designed and engineered by Ossur North America. Sabolich is the first prosthetic company in the state to test and market the limb.

Company prosthetist Theron Hogue, a below-the-knee amputee, has been testing the ankle himself for about two weeks. So he’s pleased with the range of motion and the activities he’s been able to enjoy with the attachment.

“When you walk up a hill, the Proprio will let you place your foot flat on the terrain, up and downhill,” he said. “In just a few steps it makes me feel more normal again.”

The men said that replacement ankles previously were designed on the most basic of mechanical levers. Some sort of spring-loaded structure allowed the joint to be articulated, but it held the foot fairly rigidly in place at 90-degree angle to the leg. Anyone wearing such an ankle couldn’t place it evenly against an automobile gas pedal, for example, or walk with a smooth stride without the stubbing the toe.

The Proprio Foot is balanced by a small gyro and adjusted by many calculations in its microprocessor. It’s expected to be as successful and popular as the so-called “C-Leg,” which has revolutionized the prosthetics industry since it was introduced about two years ago. That limb is built with sensors that take weight and position data to calculate an amputee’s gait at variable speeds. Its creation was also driven by military injuries.

Although the current armor is keeping U.S. military personnel safer than past gear, arms and legs are still being lost to land mines and roadside bombs. According to a U.S. Senate report, the rate of surviving soldiers who have required some amputation from activity in Iraq is double its historic military rate of 3 percent.

Most casualties pass through Washington’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Associated Press reported nearly 2,800 soldiers have been treated there, including 70 amputees, from Iraq service.

Sabolich said military amputees usually go back to their hometowns for additional prosthetic treatment. His center had helped two sent home from Iraq, Sabolich said.

“I just wish we were able to develop better technology whenever anyone loses a leg, instead of waiting for a war,” he said.