Like any ordinary orthopaedist, Mark Drakos treats patients, performs surgeries and prescribes medicines. But if you catch him in his lab, you might be surprised by what you’d find: the doctor twisting dead human legs until they snap. More »
The latest Ossur Power Knee is just a prosthesis, but it more closely resembles a robot than any artificial limb.
Humans make walking look easy, but that’s only because walking is a very efficient process in which our tendons and muscles work in conjunction to store and release 40% more energy than we exert. Obviously robots want in on this action. Oregon State University researchers have developed a leg that uses motors to drive a fiberglass spring-loaded knee joint. The result is a more efficient robot leg that operates more like a human leg. [NewScientist]
