C-Leg

1997 | Otto Bock Healthcare GmbH

Intelligent way to go

Going down stairs, going for a walk or playing golf: for wearers of purely mechanical prosthetic legs, these movements that were formerly executed without a thought, now require some real mental exercise. Every step has to be thought out. In 1997, Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH presented an innovation at the World Congress of Orthopaedics and Rehab Technology, which would make it easier to live with this physical disability in the future: the first completely microprocessor-controlled knee joint facilitates the greatest possible simulation of natural walking. Fifty times per seconds, sensors and microprocessor check the data important for locomotion. The C-leg adapts actively to every situation.

The C-leg was recently honored with the Independent Living Design Award, proving that intelligence and good looks are not mutually exclusive.

(Information taken from German Stars – 50 innovations, produced by the Federal Foreign Office, the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Invest in Germany and the Goethe Institut.)