Tissue-integrated bionic knee restores versatile legged movement after amputation

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroprosthetics
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Current lower-extremity prostheses focus on cyclic locomotion, limiting athletic versatility.
• Restoring acyclic movements essential for human athleticism remains a challenge in limb restoration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an osseointegrated mechanoneural prosthesis with a neuroembodied design.
• To develop a biomimetic coupling for advanced prosthetic control.
• To investigate the potential for prosthetic movement to exceed intact limb capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Developed an osseointegrated prosthesis with modified hard and soft tissues and implanted hardware.
• Created a biomimetic coupling between neuromuscular signaling and joint movement.
• Compared prosthetic control with conventional methods (surface electromyography).

Main Results:

• The neuroembodied design achieved versatile acyclic movements beyond conventional prosthetics.
• The biomimetic coupling demonstrated superior versatility in prosthetic control.
• Prosthetic movement speeds surpassed intact physiology in individuals with superior residual neuromuscular function.

Conclusions:

• Osseointegrated prostheses with neuroembodied designs can restore versatile acyclic movements.
• Biomimetic neural coupling offers enhanced prosthetic control.
• Anatomical prosthetic integration may be key to matching or exceeding intact limb performance.