amputee

It's hard to imagine life without a limb -- not just the physical difficulties, but how it might affect your relationship with your body, and your sense of how you're perceived by the world around you. One prosthetist is taking into account not just restoring limb function, but also the wearer's personality and style.

The Alternative Limb Project is the work of Sophie de Oliveira Barata, who, taking her honors degree from the London Arts University studying special-effects prosthetics, went to work as a sculptor for a prosthetics company. In her eight years there, she created realistic limbs and digits for amputees who wanted their new limbs to blend into their bodies.

de Oliveira Barata has continued this work with the Alternative Limb Project, and her realistic limbs, molded from casts of the customer's own body, are incredibly detailed. But some people prefer to stand out in a crowd. … Read more

If you're missing a hand, getting a replacement isn't exactly cheap. The BeBionic -- which is, admittedly, a higher-end model -- can cost up to $35,000. We imagine that's a little out of the price range of many amputees.

It's unsurprising, then, that some have taken it upon themselves to find a more accessible solution. Robohand, for example, has been creating 3D-printed robotic hands for children, with a free, open-source 3D-printing pattern available on Thingiverse for people who wish to make their own.

Christopher Chappell of the U.K. wants to do something similar. He'… Read more

Several months ago, my colleague Tim Hornyak wrote about the BeBionic 3 myoelectric prosthetic hand, a landmark prosthesis that enables a spectacular range of Terminator-like precise gripping and hand maneuverability.

A video making the rounds this week stars 53-year-old Nigel Ackland -- a wearer of the device -- who shows us that we've come extraordinarily far in prosthetic research, perhaps shockingly so if you don't keep up with the subject. … Read more

This Sunday, amputee Zak Vawter will stand at the foot of Chicago's Willis Tower and focus his thoughts on climbing. If all goes according to plan, his bionic leg will listen to those thoughts and he'll ascend 103 flights without a hitch.

Vawter, who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident in 2009, will be wearing a cutting-edge, thought-controlled prosthetic that's about to make a very public debut. He'll head up the 1,451-foot skyscraper (also known as Sears Tower) as part of SkyRise Chicago, an indoor stair-climbing fund-raising event for the Rehabilitation Institute of … Read more

A passive prosthetic leg, says 23-year-old amputee Craig Hutto, is always a step behind. But a new leg built by researchers at Vanderbilt University "is only a split-second behind."

Hutto, who is 6 feet 4 inches, has been testing the bionic leg for a good chunk of the seven-year research project at the school's Center for Intelligent Mechatronics. (Check out his crazy story about how a shark nearly tore off his leg when he was fishing in Florida at age 16.)

What sets the Vanderbilt leg apart from its predecessors is its use of recent advances in computer, sensor, electric motor, and battery tech to enable the prosthetic to be the first ever that powers knee and ankle joints in unison.

"We have validated our hypothesis that the right technology was available to make a lower-limb prosthetic with powered knee and ankle joints," says research head Michael Goldfarb, a professor of mechanical engineering, in a news release. "Our device illustrates the progress we are making in integrating man and machine."

The device weighs in at 9 pounds, which is actually less than most human lower legs. On one charge, it can operate at normal levels of activity for roughly three days. And it features an "anti-stumble" routine; if the leg senses that its user is starting to stumble, the leg lifts to avoid obstruction and plants on the floor to optimize balance.… Read more

In March, former Marine corporal Josh Maloney became the first Iraq war veteran and only the sixth American to receive a human hand, transplanted from an organ donor.

"He wanted to touch," said Patty Maloney, his mother. "He wanted to be able to feel again."

Four months later, the hand is actually starting to work.

"I can feel the soft touch up to there," he said. "I can feel hot and cold."

Maloney served two tours in Iraq, but came home and lost his hand in a training accident. He tried prosthetics, … Read more