RECENT ADVANCEMENTS:
"When I received my first prosthesis at the age of 11, it was made of wood and metal. At that time, I never dreamed that a leg could be made that would allow me to hike, snowboard, dive, rock climb, mountain bike, and keep up with my six-year-old son."-Cliff Cabral, age 39 (belowkneeamputeecom).
Recent advances in prosthetic research and design have improved the ability of amputees to participate in sport activities. An example of these are energy-storing and releasing prosthetic feet, computer-aided socket designs, and light weight prosthetic materials. The energy storing and releasing prosthetic feet allow the athlete to run the proper way from heal to toe. The computer aided socket design allows the product to reproduce and store experience from previous designs, and the light weight material helps put less stress on the athlete. These are all prosthetic innovations that help make life a little easier for amputees (Birchard 99).
Even with the above improvements, scientists continue to strive for a better prosthesis. For the first time this century researchers have reported the ability to use neuronal activity recorded directly from the brains of rats to control a robot in real time (Birchard 99). This brings the field of prosthetics one step closer to emulating the experience of using real limbs. Researchers are also working to introduce automatic gripping sensors into the prosthesis that will be directly controlled by the brain and linked to the central nervous system (Birchard 99).