[Image from Össur]
Reykjavik, Iceland–based Össur designed the motor-powered “smart” prosthesis with advanced algorithms for detecting human movement patterns, learning and adjusting to the wearer’s speed and cadence in real-time. The platform creates motion through active powered assistance while distinguishing what surface, incline or decline the wearer is on — and if they are sitting or standing.
The platform allows a wearer to perform a more natural “step-over-step” pattern on ascending stairs and more controlled resistance when descending stairs or ramps. In addition, its motor-powered energy creates more symmetrical motion and helps users conserve their own energy, too.
Össur said in a news release that Power Knee represents the world’s first actively powered microprocessor prosthetic knee for people with above-knee amputation or limb difference.
“No other knee thinks, acts or behaves remotely like the new, next-generation Power Knee,” Össur President and CEO Jon Sigurdsson said in the release. “While other microprocessor knees are “passive” in nature, we have always considered the restoration of power – which is fundamental to the biomechanical systems that move all human bodies – to be a critical function that was lacking in other prosthetic solutions for amputees. The Power Knee delivers on that promise and represents an extraordinary milestone in mobility for people with limb loss and limb difference.”
