Zac Vawter walked down stairs with his bionic leg. In an advance that could eventually improve the mobility of thousands of people living with amputations, researchers said a 32-year-old man successfully controlled movements of a motorized artificial leg using only his own thoughts. Aided by sensors receiving impulses from nerves and muscles that once carried signals to his missing knee and ankle, the patient was able to climb and descend stairs and walk up and down inclines much as he could with a natural leg, based on directions that came from his brain. Importantly, he was able to flex the device's ankle, enabling a near-normal gait, something not possible with current prosthetics. "It's night and day" between the experimental bionic leg and the mechanical prosthetic limb he uses every day, said Zac Vawter, a software engineer from Yelm, Wash., who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident four years ago. "Going upstairs with my normal prosthetic, my sound leg goes up first for every step," he added. "With this I go foot-over-foot up the stairs and down the stairs." Read more http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304795804579097570008603700.html
