(Describer) Streams of light collide to create a globe filled with water. Title: Science Nation. A young man walks on a mechanical prosthetic leg.
[explosion]
(male narrator)
You might say Craig Hutto
is part bionic man.
In 2005, doctors amputated
his leg above the knee
after a shark attacked him
along the Florida Gulf Coast.
(Hutto)
I was 16.
When my brother
saw something take me under,
he saw the back fin
of the shark.
There was so much tissue damage
that it was irreparable.
(narrator)
Two years later,
and game for a challenge,
Hutto became
the first test pilot
for a unique and powerful
new prosthetic leg
developed by mechanical engineer
Michael Goldfarb
and his team
at Vanderbilt University.
The effort
was kick-started
by a grant from the
National Science Foundation.
(Describer) Goldfarb:
We developed an early prototype
that demonstrated
that you could have a leg
that was light enough
and could deliver biomechanical
levels of torque and power.
(narrator)
Version 1.0 evolved into
a more streamlined 2.0--
computer-controlled
with advanced range of motion
in the joints.
This is a battery
that powers everything.
(Describer) He holds the disconnected leg.
You have a motor here
that drives a knee joint,
motor here that drives
the ankle joint.
The computer board
tells the motors
what to do with the joints.
(Describer) Brian Lawson:
It has the computing capability
to work with the user
to provide torque
at the right time.
(narrator)
It responds to cues
from the wearer.
(Describer) Hutto:
Before I go to stair ascent,
I kick my thigh back a bit.
Just that little movement
tells it,
(Describer) He goes upstairs.
"Hey, you're about to walk
up stairs."
(narrator)
To reduce the risk of injury,
a slight delay
has been programmed
into the leg's computer.
(Describer) Hutto goes downstairs.
Hutto confirms
it takes less effort to walk
compared to the prosthetic
he wears every day.
(Hutto)
With my leg, it is harder,
because it's always
a step behind me.
(narrator)
Goldfarb says they have
sold their technology
to a major
prosthetic manufacturer.
(Goldfarb)
We'll know
in the next few years
if they'll gain traction
in the market.
(narrator)
And Hutto, who is studying
to be a nurse,
is looking forward
to walking on a bionic leg
that he helped make a reality.
(Describer) The globe turns.
For Science Nation,
I'm Miles O'Brien.
