A Translational Alliance between Newcastle University and Ossur

每年有超过5400名英国患者被转诊到假肢诊所(2011年)，其中90%以上是膝盖以下或以上的截肢者。截肢的主要原因是糖尿病、肢体血管障碍(失去血液供应)、事故和战场上的受伤。假肢有可能极大地提高使用者的机动性、信心和生活质量。有了有效的假肢解决方案，用户可以独立于日常生活，例如行走、爬楼梯和潜在的跑步。此外，先进的假肢使截肢者能够改善他们的姿势，这反过来又对减少他们未受影响的关节的磨损起到积极作用。然而，下肢截肢者缺乏与假肢的脚和脚踝相关的神经结构，而且与健全的人相比，缺乏稳定性。目前还不存在有针对性地将反馈信息从假体传递到神经系统的技术。作为EPSRC资助的SenseBack项目的一部分，一个经验丰富的英国研究团队正在开发一些关键技术，以恢复使用假手的人的感觉。纽卡斯尔大学和奥苏尔(www.ossur.com)之间拟议的翻译联盟将促进将SenseBack项目中开发的技术翻译到腿部假肢。在接下来的十年里，我们的目标是创造一种能够产生机械动力、自主适应用户不断变化的需求并向用户提供有关肢体和假肢状态的反馈的假肢。

Each year, over 5400 UK patients are referred to lower limb prosthesis clinics (2011), of whom over 90% are below- or above-knee amputees. The main causes of amputation are diabetes, limb dysvascularity (loss of blood supply), accidents and injury in the battlefield. Prosthetic legs have the potential to dramatically improve the mobility, confidence and the quality of life of users. With an effective prosthetic solution, users can be independent in their daily living, e.g. walking, stair climbing and potentially running. In addition, advanced prosthetic legs enable amputees to improve their posture which in turn has a positive effect on reducing wear-and tear on their unaffected joints. However, individuals with lower-limb amputation lack the nervous structures associated with the foot and ankle from the prosthesis and, compared with able-bodied individuals, suffer from lack of stability. Technologies do not exist for targeted delivery of feedback information from the prosthesis to the nervous system. As part of the EPSRC-funded SenseBack project, a highly-experienced team of UK researchers are developing a number of key technologies to restore sensation to the individuals using prosthetic hands. The proposed translational Alliance between Newcastle University and Össur (www.ossur.com) will facilitate translation of the the technologies developed in the SenseBack project to lower-limb prostheses. With Össur, within the next decade, we aim to create an artificial leg that can generate mechanical power, adapt autonomously to the user's changing needs and also provide feedback to the user regarding the state of the limb and the prosthesis.