Symbiosis with sound leg
When a limb is lost, so too are some of the body’s natural mechanoreceptors – the cells that can sense a range of mechanical stimuli and communicate that information to the central nervous system. Sophisticated sensor technology is one of three distinct elements that currently dominate Ossur’s intelligent structures and it is a combination of sensors that act together to replace the mechanoreceptor function.
The POWER KNEE™ is the first knee system to be actively informed by the movements of the sound leg to better reproduce motion on the prosthetic side. The strategically placed sensor technology on this leg comprises gyrometers and pressure cells and load cells. With every step that amputees take with their sound leg, the sensors constantly and accurately measure motion, position and velocity of the sound side, providing feedback to the artificial intelligence (AI). Consequently the AI is able to anticipate the motion on the prosthetic side even before the next step takes place.
Transferred via Bluetooth, this data enables a direct connection between the user and the prosthesis. The result is that for the first time the two legs function harmoniously and together once more in the same proactive and anticipatory fashion as human legs do.