Meanwhile in prosthetic foot news, a new prosthetic foot has been developed and detailed in a PLoS-One paper by Steven H. Collins (Department of Bio-mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology) and Arthur D. Kuo (Departments of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan).

This latest artificial foot uses a micro controller to operate a device in the foot which stores energy from the down step and then releases it on the up step, thereby mimicking the natural movement of a human ankle. So it’s an authentic fake foot. Or at least as authentic as a fake foot can be.

Research has previously shown that subjects walking with an artificial ankle increased their net metabolic energy expenditure by 23% compared to normal walking. However this new energy recycling ankle reduces that amount to 14%.

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