{"id":113730,"date":"2019-03-02T20:55:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-02T17:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ww-vb.mine.nu\/w108\/smart-prosthetic-ankle-takes-fear-out-of-rough-terrain-stairs-vanderbilt-news\/"},"modified":"2019-03-02T20:55:44","modified_gmt":"2019-03-02T17:55:44","slug":"smart-prosthetic-ankle-takes-fear-out-of-rough-terrain-stairs-vanderbilt-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/smart-prosthetic-ankle-takes-fear-out-of-rough-terrain-stairs-vanderbilt-news\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Smart\u2019 prosthetic ankle takes fear out of rough terrain, stairs | Vanderbilt News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"795\" height=\"447\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cP6kFPMaqFE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s virtually impossible to know Mike Sasser\u2019s left leg is a prosthetic one \u2013 after a decade of practice, he moves surely and swiftly through his busy days as a consultant and father.<\/p>\n<p>But when Sasser encounters uneven ground or a flight of stairs, he focuses very hard on balance, because that\u2019s when using a prosthetic can mean taking a tumble. For years, he\u2019s been visiting a Vanderbilt University mechanical engineering laboratory, making a difference by testing a new \u201csmart\u201d prosthetic ankle that moves with the user.<\/p>\n<p>Prosthetic ankles available now are static, meaning they don\u2019t anticipate movement and adjust the feet to different terrains. Many users swing the prosthetic leg outward ever so slightly during regular walking to make up for feet that don\u2019t naturally roll through the motion of walking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve tried hydraulic ankles that had no sort of microprocessors, and they\u2019ve been clunky, heavy and unforgiving for an active person,\u201d Sasser said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t that. It actually lifts the toe for you. There\u2019s a definite market for this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The device is from the lab of Michael Goldfarb, H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering; professor of electrical engineering and physical medicine and rehabilitation; and co-director of the Center for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology. He\u2019s perhaps best known for working on a <a href=\"https:\/\/news.vanderbilt.edu\/2011\/08\/17\/bionic-leg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">bionic leg<\/a> with shark attack victim Craig Hutto and later developing the world\u2019s first easily portable, wearable robot \u2013 the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.vanderbilt.edu\/2016\/03\/10\/fda-approves-vanderbilt-designed-indego-exoskeleton-for-clinical-and-personal-use\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Indego exoskeleton<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The ankle has a tiny motor, actuator, sensors and chip that work together to either conform to the surface the foot is contacting or remain stationary, depending on what the user needs.<\/p>\n<p>Goldfarb said the problem with finding workable prosthetic ankles is so pervasive that many amputees only wear one type of shoe \u2013 whichever one works best with their prosthetic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur prosthetic ankle is intelligent, so you can wear a dress shoe, a running shoe, a flat \u2013 whatever you\u2019d like \u2013 and the ankle adapts,\u201d Goldfarb said. \u201cYou can walk up slopes, down slopes, up stairs and down stairs, and the device figures out what you\u2019re doing and functions the way it should.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison Bartlett, a Ph.D. student in Goldfarb\u2019s lab, works with Sasser, gathering feedback from the sensors and making adjustments based on both the data and Sasser\u2019s user experience.<\/p>\n<p>As a participant in the National Science Foundation\u2019s I-Corps program for budding entrepreneurs, Bartlett also interviewed nearly 100 potential users to understand what would make the ankle a success. His team hopes to commercialize the ankle within the next couple of years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI talked to one person whose favorite restaurant was at the top of a long flight of stairs, so they haven\u2019t eaten there in 10 years,\u201d he said. \u201cAnother sat on benches throughout an amusement park while their family enjoyed the rides because they couldn\u2019t be sure about navigating that with their prosthetic. We want to return people to any of the life activities they want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>Media inquiries<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Heidi Hall, (615) 322-NEWS<\/p>\n<p>Heidi.Hall@Vanderbilt.edu<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/vanderbilt-video\/~3\/gCX00mCGSTo\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] It\u2019s virtually impossible to know Mike Sasser\u2019s left leg is a prosthetic one \u2013 after a decade of practice, he moves surely and swiftly through his busy days as a consultant and father. But when Sasser encounters uneven ground or a flight of stairs, he focuses very hard on balance, because that\u2019s when using &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hameed.nwar.uk\/sa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}