VA Delivers Cutting-Edge Bionics to Above-Knee Amputees

VA Delivers Cutting-Edge Bionics to Above-Knee Amputees
The Department of Veterans Affairs now has the technology to enable Veterans with above-the-knee amputations to walk with a healthy, natural gait, just the way they did before they were injured.

“The BiOM is a unique piece of technology that actually mimics the human body and allows an amputee to walk with the same, natural gait as a non-amputee,” said John Fox, supervisor of the Orthotic and Prosthetic Services Lab at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va. “The system even contains a battery and a motor that provide you with a ‘power push-off,’ propelling you as well as the weight of the device. It literally mimics what our feet do when we walk.”

He added: “With a traditional prosthetic, you get tired because you’re using so much additional energy to move. With the BiOM, no additional effort is needed, so you don’t get tired.”

Over several hundred people with below-the-knee amputations currently wear the BiOM ankle, developed by a company called iWalk. Made possible by funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, iWalk’s BiOM ankle is the world’s first bionic ankle system that utilizes robotics to restore the function of missing anatomy in the calf muscle and Achilles tendon.

Recently, however, VA has begun mating the bionic ankle with a microprocessor knee to allow Veterans with above-the-knee amputations to walk normally. iWalk refers to this ankle-knee combo as the BiOM ‘AK.’

“This device is literally a miracle,” said William Gadsby, a 34-year-old Veteran who has been outfitted with both the BiOM ankle and a microprocessor knee known as the X2, made by a company called Ottobock. “A few months ago I was walking at nighttime and had my hands in my pockets. For the first time in four years I was able to look up at the stars without stopping to balance myself. I’ve been able to walk up steep hills and stairs. I can walk down steep grades, and have been able to do some Yoga stances. Just walking —in and of itself— is awesome.

“I recently took my family to the Outer Banks in North Carolina,” he continued. “I was able to walk up the sand dunes with no problem. In fact, I kept shouting to my wife and my three-year-old son to keep up with me! I also went hiking in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia with a 50-pound pack. I was going up some pretty steep trails, and I wasn’t getting tired.”

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