Amputees Make Huge Strides With New Prosthetic Leg Technology (VIDEO)

Amputees were fitted with a new high tech prosthetic leg using a micro processor controlled knee, that greatly eases walking ability.

Gary Henness of Albany, Oregon with the C-Leg Photos and video by Tim King Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - New technology in prosthetic legs means increased walking ability for leg amputees. Debuted publicly in Salem, Oregon, the 'C-Leg' is a huge step forward for the advancement of artificial limbs.

Jude Elliott is an Orthitist / Prosthetist with the Hanger Orthopedic Group.

"The technology that we're showing people today is a micro processor controlled knee which is really more of a standard of care now with Walter Reed Medical Center and the VA fitting patients and the veterans coming back from the Middle East, it's really more of a standard of care. It's a true testament to this technology."

Oregon resident Gary Henness was present in Salem for a special fitting that allowed leg amputees to try the device for the first time. Gary isn't new to the 'C-Leg', as it is called, but he is one of the people who is clearly sold on it as the best he's seen yet. Gary lost his leg to cancer, but it hasn't stopped him from staying on his feet.

"I've had this one for a year and I had a mechanical leg for about three years and then I had a Compact Leg, which is the predecessor to this, for approximately five years.

Henness is walking with a smoother step, thanks to this new technology. He emphasized that there is a lot of contrast in prosthetics and settings.

"We made some changes to it today that made it even better for me prior to what it was And that is the thing about it, we went back to the old settings and I felt like I was dragging my leg compared to now."

The wars overseas have greatly increased demand for people like Jude Elliott, who can help restore a person's ability to walk.

"The technology has really, really picked up. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have really promoted a lot of research and a lot of money going into improving the technology," he said.

People like Gary Henness know what a dramatic difference it makes in their lives to have a new prosthetic that works well. He says those who return from war with amputations will get their lives back in order faster, with the new technology.

"They fought for their country and now they are limited because of this. But by having the prosthetic, then that makes them more of a valid person back in life again. And so it would be a positive outlook for them to be able to get back and be functional again by wearing the prosthetic, and by having the newer prosthetics, that are more natural, it works out better for them."

As a person who works with people who suffered amputations on a daily basis, Jude Elliott said, "I can only imagine what somebody goes through from the grief process through the rehabilitation and we're really here just to make that easier for them and it's so nice to see the improvements being made through the prosthetic industry."

Gary Henness is certainly someone who can attest to the progress in this area. I asked him if it the technology has moved fast enough.

"I believe so, I think that they're even getter even farther advanced because trying to introduce artificial intelligence to into so that you train the leg even more as you wear it, so that it adapts to you personally, as to how your lifestyle is."

Elliott says he believes in the technology because he has seen how it affects people.

Henness, for example, is able to carry on his relationships on a normal basis. He has a 31-year old son and they are able to do many things together.

"Being able to get out with him and his wife and with friends, where if you're just sitting around not doing it, you're wasting your life."

He says there is a water resistant plastic shield you can place over the prosthetic leg, but it isn't something that you get wet.

That is one limitation, but one of the only ones I found. I teased him and told him that means he can't go surfing with it. It may have a way to go before it's ready for saltwater, but I'll bet a person could actually make it waterproof if they really wanted to. I'd be curious to know.

Hanger Orthopedics has 600 offices across the country, including the Salem, Oregon location, where small miracles keep taking place.

Visit hanger.com to learn more.

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), the first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several other awards including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com