Bionic Limbs

Goodbye traditional prosthetics!

Bionic limbs (Advanced Prostheses) function as the best replacement to a missing limb that may have been lost by the person due to amputations or other medical conditions. The loss of a limb can be incredibly challenging for a person as even the daily tasks pose a big hurdle which they have to overcome. The advancement in technology has even made it possible to connect the mind of an individual to the Bionic prostheses. Bionic limbs work using signals from one’s muscle cells and provide smooth functioning. Limbs such as Bionic Hands are powered either mechanically or electronically as Bionic Hands rely on the electrical signals received from the nerves and brain for movement.

The Prosthetic department has developed hugely in the past decade.

Bionic Limbs have surpassed the traditional prostheses. The traditional ones require complete body power to function whereas, using both brain and muscles to power bionic limbs, they provide increased support and are the most dependable. They are the go-to prostheses in the current generation.

How Bionic Limbs Work

Bionic Limbs rely on the signals received from the muscles, for example, a person having a Bionic Arm flexes the muscles around the Bionic Prosthetic, the sensors of the limb would react to it and conduct the task appropriately. Such limbs are equipped with sensors and this ability to react to the muscle group and brain signals is a lifesaver.

A basic bionic leg.

There are built-in computers in many bionic limbs which are responsible for detecting the muscle signals. There are some bionic limbs that require sensors to be implanted in the remaining muscle group of the stump of the limb. In simple terms, the bionic leg of a person would move just at the response of the person’s thought of moving the leg.

“Plug and Play” is a term that is used to denote most of the bionic limbs. This simply means that the bionic limbs also have the functionality of being able to be removed when not required and put on when the person requires with utmost ease. Some bionic limbs may require a custom-built design to cater to the needs of the person’s muscles. Different locations of bionic limbs in a human body require separate and careful evaluation of the needs and replacement. The upper limb such as the hand or forearm is the most complex as it controls about 40 muscles and the huge surface of the brain cortex involved signifies the importance of a bionic arm in the life of a human being.

Microprocessor-controlled Movement

The first artificial knee with an “on board” machine to enhance the symmetry of amputees’ gait across a large vary of walking speeds was developed by Blatchford within the early 90s. Studies have confirmed that these “intelligent prostheses” supply amputees a lot of reliable gait patterns throughout the swing part of the gait cycle, allowing them to steer with a lot of confidence and during a lot of energy economical manner.

Advanced prosthetic knees allow a controlled amount of flexion during initial weight-bearing (stance flexion) to simulate a more normal gait pattern and to absorb some of the impacts of walking on an artificial limb.

The Otto lager C-Leg takes this a stage additional, giving not solely symmetry within the swing part however additionally markedly improved security within the stance phase — that is, the knee won’t buckle accidentally throughout standing. Sensors within the gliding joint and shin of the restorative regularly assess the position of the leg in the area because the unfortunate person is walking. The information is fed into 2 microprocessors within the knee, and also the resistance from a hydraulic damper is adjusted up to fifty times a second, optimizing knee stiffness throughout the complete gait cycle. The flexibility of this knee to mechanically increase knee stability among microseconds makes it abundant easier and safer for amputees to traverse uneven ground, to steer on aslope surfaces, and to steer downstairs.

Advanced prosthetic knees allow a controlled amount of flexion during initial weight-bearing (stance flexion) to simulate a more normal gait pattern and to absorb some of the impacts of walking on an artificial limb. Studies have shown that the independence of people has increased with the use of advanced bionic prostheses, and they are able to overcome much more difficult tasks (even the ones which they used to struggle in with their original limbs). The only downside of advanced prosthetics is that they cost about four times more than traditional mechanical prosthetics.

Real-life Examples

i-LIMB Hand

The i-LIMB prosthetic hand.

The i- LIMB Hand is the name of the brand which is the world’s first commercially available bionic hand. It was invented by David Glow along with his teammates at the Bioengineering Centre of the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital in Edinburgh. i-LIMB has won the Limbless Association’s Prosthetic Product Innovation Award in the year of 2008. These bionic limbs are individually motorized and even have a manually rotating thumb and thus they can be best described as multi-articulating prosthetic hands. These bionic hands are light in weight and easy to use, and being equipped with several functions, it grants the user additional functionality.

Myoelectric signals are used to manipulate the i-LIMB Hand, which uses muscle signals from the patient’s residual arm to shift the i-LIMB Hand around. Electrodes are implanted in two muscle locations that have been pre-determined. When the patient contracts his or her muscles, the electrodes pick up the muscle signals. These signals are then passed on to a microprocessor, which moves the bionic limb.

This bionic limb has 4 different muscle triggers:

1. HOLD OPEN: This trigger uses the open signal for some amount of time
2. DOUBLE IMPULSE: This trigger uses two successive open signals once the hand is completely opened
3. TRIPLE IMPULSE: This trigger uses three successive open signals once the hand is completely opened
4. CO-CONTRACTION: This trigger enables the device to simultaneously contract the open and close muscles.

BiOM Foot

BiOM Ankle Foot system has thus far proved that it is the only commercially-available bionic leg device for patients with amputations that enables them to propel with the help of BiOM Ankle Foot. This Ankle Foot device enables its users to get hold of a normalized biomimetic response on all ground level speeds.

The BiOM Ankle-Foot System emulates the muscle functions of a normal healthy working human ankle during the phase of load-bearing walking. This bionic limb contributes to decreasing the knee and impact force during walking and takes care of all the details such as the person’s walking speed and adjusting according to the unaffected leg of the person.

The BiOM Ankle-Foot System.

There have been many testimonials which states that the BiOM bionic prosthetics have reduced the risk of disabilities such as knee osteoarthritis hugely. Personal engineering is reworking the prosthetic trade with Bionic Propulsion mortise joint technology that emulates missing muscle and sinew perform. Since all alternative commercially available mortise joint devices don’t offer natural Bionic Propulsion throughout the walking stance section, important gait deviations occur. For the primary time in history, the BiOM offers programmable stiffness modulation and power assistance to emulate lost muscle performance, reducing gait deviation, leading to lower metabolic energies, quicker speeds, and lower joint stresses throughout the system. Other gliding joint technology includes those created entirely of passive elements like carbon-fiber springs and Titanium. These systems revert less energy than they absorb. All alternative gliding joint devices have a spring or hydraulic response throughout stance, and therefore have net-negative propulsive energy, because of springs and dampers cannot unleash a lot of energy than they absorb. As a result, the use of passive technology results in a walk with an associate degree altered gait. Another gliding joint technology includes microchip management of region and flexure positions.

These gliding joint systems position the foot throughout the swing section of walking in response to terrain however get locked during the stance phase and thus fail to provide active propulsion for the user. In clear distinction, the BiOM System provides Bionic Propulsion to the unfortunate person, a singular technological platform that restores traditional gliding joint stiffness and power throughout the stance section of walking.

BiOM system providing seamless exercise.

Bionic Propulsion emulates traditional muscle and sinew operate by the approach of 2 bionic management actions. First, at heel strike, the BiOM provides programmable management of gliding joint spring stiffness to soak up the shock and to propel the shinbone forward at midstance. Second, throughout the late stance section of walking, the BiOM provides programmable management of net-positive power assist. The BiOM controls force and power to emulate traditional levels of gliding joint power-driven region flexion, pushing the unfortunate person upwards and forwards into their walking stride. The device replaces the operation of the individual’s lost muscle and sinew anatomy and provides a lot of energy than it stores, providing a net-positive power assist. This action emulates the missing calf muscles of the human mortise joint, supply internet energy to the amputee’s walking stride for the primary time in prosthetic history.

MyoPro

The MyoPro arm.

MyoPro is a Myoelectric Arm Orthosis which is designed for enabling individuals to control and initiate movements of the target arm which are weakened or paralyzed by using their muscle signals. The sensors equipped in the bionic arm detect the weak muscle signals being transmitted when the user tries to initiate a movement and this activates the motor which proceeds to move the arm as desired. Hence, with the use of this brace, a handicapped individual is able to perform activities involved in daily life such as lifting, feeding, and reaching.

The benefits provided with the MyoPro are:

1. The arms can be customized according to separate users.
2. It consists of advanced configuration software which allows the programming of the brace to be modified and change its settings to cater to the needs of the user easily.

Future Scope

“Hero Arm” — A customized Bionic Arm.

The Human being is considered the most intelligent and complex engineered structure created by the almighty. Prosthetists and orthotists face a difficult task in re-creating the missing anatomical structure and function. However, advancements in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics have given millions of people with disabilities a ray of hope. The use of AI in the field of prosthetics and orthotics is still in its early stages and is not commonly used. Many AI-based projects are still in the prototype stage and have not yet been commercialized. The high costs of these devices are a big stumbling block for many people with disabilities.

Government authorities, manufacturers, and financing organizations must step up and invest in this sector so that the best quality and most up-to-date technology can be made available to a wider community of disabled people at an affordable price.

The main problem this industry is facing is in the financial department and it is hopeful that the new millennium will gather the will and funds for the widespread applications of innovative prosthetics.

Written by Naman More