Invention: Biomechatronic leg joints
The invention of "bionic" knee and ankle prostheses by American biophysicist Hugh Herr at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) not only allows amputees to pursue fully mobile lifestyles, but even lets them compete as world-class athletes.
Hugh Herr's "bionic knee", introduced in 2007, enables
amputees to walk with a fluid, natural gait thanks to a combination of
microprocessors and adaptive impact dampening based on posture and weight
distribution. Heralded as a milestone improvement over static, non-adaptive
prosthetics such as the rubber Jaipur Foot invented in 1971, the "smart"
prosthesis has changed the lives of thousands of amputees worldwide.
Herr and his team at MIT's Biomechatronics Group achieved their breakthrough by mimicking the knee's adaptive response to pressure and weight through a magnetic dampening liquid, activated by feedback from sensors placed inside the prosthesis. The prolific inventor also created the BiOM T2, the world's first battery-powered prosthetic foot and ankle to mimic the function of the foot with a complex network of microprocessors, released in 2010.
Societal benefit
Each year, approximately three to four million people worldwide undergo seriously debilitating amputations, suffering harsh limitations on mobility and lifestyle as a consequence. In the US alone, approximately 185 000 amputations are performed each year. The incidence of amputation is around 1.5 per 1 000 among the civilian population, plus a high number among members of the armed forces.
Herr's devices have already changed the lives of hundreds of amputees. As of April 2014, more than 1 000 BiOM T2 system ankle prostheses have been fitted to patients, nearly half of whom are US veterans. The ankle prosthesis currently comes with a price tag of around EUR 35 000 (USD 40 000) per unit, but the social benefits in terms of autonomous lifestyles and workforce participation are invaluable.
Economic benefit
In 2007, Herr co-founded spin-off company iWalk, initially investing EUR 20 million (USD 25 million) in perfecting bionic prostheses. Now operating under the name BionX Medical Technologies, the privately held company with 45 employees generated over EUR 30.8 million (USD 35 million) in revenue between 2011 and 2014. Herr's knee prosthesis has been licensed to Icelandic company Ossur, which is currently the world's number two prosthetics manufacturer. The prosthetic knee, marketed as the Rheo Knee, is now in its third generation with a new weather-proof design. In 2015, Ossur reported EUR 434 million (USD 483 million) in turnover, with sales of bionic products at 16% of prosthetic component sales.
Herr's "bionic" prostheses are part of a vital growth segment: the global microprocessor-controlled (MPC) prosthetics market reached EUR 393.4 million (USD 434.4 million) in 2015 (SA-Business Research & Consulting). In the bigger picture, Global Industry Analysts expects the value of the global prosthetics market to reach EUR 19.2 billion by 2017.
