Currently being primed for use in the US by rehabilitation centers as part of their training aid in helping recover a proper walking gait, the software used will control the knee – and this software has been specially rewritten to work for stroke rehab. According to the company, the system is currently going through trials with 24 different patients over at the New York Presbyterian hospital.
Among the key components that are found in the Tibion Bionic Leg would be a pressure-sensing shoe insert that detects and measures the amount of weight a patient is applying to his/her affected leg, a computer into which the therapist programs the amount of support to be provided to the patient’s affected leg during different tasks, a couple of motors within the Bionic Leg to provide adequate support and an angle sensor in the knee, which informs the computer what the patient is doing or likely to do. Let’s hope it won’t be too expensive to the masses when available.