Bionic Technology by Ossur is a significant advancement, on a par with complex applications in other industries the world over. In prosthetics, our goal ultimately is to replicate the natural function of the lost limb, restoring normal sensory and motor control functions to the amputee. Today, we are one step closer, making huge progress toward life without limitations.
Three distinct elements currently dominate Ossur’s intelligent structures. Sophisticated SENSOR TECHNOLOGY samples various aspects of real-time motion as often as 1600 times per second. In addition to tracking factors that include load and angular displacement, this advanced technology can enable artificial proprioception – the identification of the prosthetic device’s orientation in space or even the restoration of the link between the prosthetic and sound leg. Sensing whether a user is traversing flat or sloped surfaces and going up or down stairs, this technology simultaneously times events in the walking cycle, such as heel strike and toe off.
All this data is processed by Ossur’s patented forms of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) which calculate and instigate the most appropriate response for the next step. An important branch of computer science, AI deals with intelligent behavior, learning and adaptation in machines. In prosthetics, it enables the device to think for itself, to learn and anticipate how the user walks and to constantly and rapidly adapt its response to changing conditions.
The AI transmits a constant stream of signals which instruct precision-machined componentry to act and deliver optimal function. ACTUATOR TECHNOLOGY describes forms of motion control. In terms of Bionic Technology by Ossur, it ranges from Magnetorheologic fluid to electromechanical power sources that replace the body’s concentric muscle activity.