Advances in prosthetic technology increase opportunities for sport

Today, athletes with physical disabilities compete in many sports, from track and field, to basketball, hockey, swimming and more. The International Paralympic Committee classifies para-athletes in categories for competition based on their impairment.  One eligible impairment type is limb deficiency due to total or partial absence of bones or joints as a consequence of trauma (e.g. car accident), illness (e.g. bone cancer) or congenital limb deficiency (e.g. dysmelia). (Source: https://www.paralympic.org/classification)

Prosthetics and orthotics are special equipment used by some para-athletes to successfully contend. 
"The technology in the last five years is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was the previous 15 years," says John Spillar, market manager for sports prosthetics in North America for Ottobock. "We're making more and more custom devices for people who want to climb mountains, for people who want to play specific sports. You'll never be able to replace the limb, but we can get things like ground reaction force, the spring in the feet, things like that, and now we have athletes who are using these devices to beat world records." (Source: espn.go.com)

(Photo: helix.northwestern.edu)

Dr. Todd Kuiken pioneered targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Amputated nerves are redirected from the endpoint of injury to another muscle group. Electrodes receive the nerve impulse from the central nervous system and signal movement of the prosthetic limb. With training, an individual learns to think about and control movement of the advanced prosthetic. (Source: How Stuff Works Science - How Prosthetic Limbs Work)

Emerging technologies show promise in customizing prosthetics to the user, learning patterns of muscle movement and load. The result is an adaptive device that increases efficiency and precision of motion. The increasing number of injured veterans is driving advances in bioengineering, restoring mobility and independence. The future promises "smart" prosthetics with a computer interface enabling quick adjustments to demand without loss of function.