Bluetooth tech used in prosthetics; double amputee walks again

Bluetooth has become a staple of our current technology. A lot of devices use it now, from your personal computers to your game consoles. Now it’s being explored for use in prosthetics. An Iraq war veteran who lost both his legs is walking again thanks to his Bluetooth prosthetics. Check out the full article for details.

Bluetooth is becoming increasingly popular, if not already a fundamental part of modern day technology. Amazingly, it seems that other industries are finding the technology useful in areas other than communication: one company was able to use it in prosthetics.

Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill, a war veteran who lost both legs in Iraq, is able to walk again thanks to new motorized prosthetic legs outfitted with Bluetooth tech.

The legs have Bluetooth receivers strapped to the ankle area. The devices communicate with each other, coordinating their actions like speed, force and direction. Bleill explains:

They mimic each other, so for stride length, for amount of force coming up, going uphill, downhill and such, they can vary speed and then to stop them again. I will put resistance with my own thigh muscles to slow them down, so I can stop walking, which is always nice.

The concept of Bluetooth prosthetics was originally meant for amputees who only lost one leg but it seems it’s working for Bleill. For now he still needs two canes to help him walk, but he hopes that eventually he’ll be able to do it without them.

Via CNN