FlexFoot Cheetah By Zachary Campo Introduction Prosthetics are

Flex-Foot Cheetah { By: Zachary Campo

Introduction Prosthetics are artificial limbs used to replace a no longer existing limb. The creation of prosthetics dates back to 2750 BC where the Egyptian Dynasty first put to use splints. It was not until 1946 that major advances were made in the attachment of prosthetics.

Prosthetics in Track As advances in technology were made, prosthetics began being designed for more strenuous tasks. Lower leg amputees wanted the ability to run again. Decided to stop mimicking how actual human leg works and go in new direction Designed a “j” curve to allow for running Now Flex-Foot Cheetah has allowed double leg amputee Oscar Pistorius to compete in Olympics vs. able bodied people

Flex-Foot Cheetah Design Van Phillips created the prosthetic in 1996 Mimicking motions of the hind legs of a cheetah in mid stride, Phillips designed the Flex -Foot Cheetah. Created by carbon fibers High and low stress points vary in amount of fibers Allows for compression and also return to normal state Attaches externally to body

Results After experiments were performed, results from Ossur company show that: It takes 25% more energy to move a prosthetic over a human limb 90% energy is returned from the Flex-Foot to the runner while 249% energy is returned by a human limb Lightweight compared to other prosthetics Hard to maneuver around track with lack of ankles Comfortable for short periods of time

Flex-Foot Changes Track Amputees could not compete with able-bodied runners because prosthetics were lacking in effectiveness With development of Flex-Foot now amputees can compete alongside able-body runners Oscar Pistorius proved this in the 2012 London Olympics

Controversy People believe that the spring provided by the Flex-Foot plays an unfair advantage for the runner Provided that the prosthetic does compress and return energy, people assume its more energy than a human leg would provide Glancing back at the numbers from the results section, this is found to be incorrect

Price Cost per unit is between $15, 000 -18, 000 Most often not covered by health insurance Expensive but the ability to run again makes it worth it

Advances in Product As technology advances so do the effectiveness of the prosthetics created Prosthetics may be designed like shoes in the future, an amputee may have a different prosthetic for every activity As springs are implemented into the design, they may act like muscles and return a higher amount of energy to the user Very possible that having a prosthetic will be more beneficial than a human leg in the future

Works Cited http: //2012 currentevents 2. wikispaces. com/file/view/i mages-4. jpeg/340822904/images-4. jpeg (3/24/13) http: //www. ossur. com/? pageid=13462 (3/23/13) http: //s 1267. photobucket. com/user/abetterman 80/me dia/ (3/32/13) olympicrunner_60689335_oscar_pistorius. jpg. html (3/23/13) http: //asset 2. cbsistatic. com/cnwk. 1 d/i/ne/p/2005/412 r unner 500 x 572. jpg (3/23/13) http: //www. theatlantic. com/entertainment/archive/2 012/08/no-advantage-to-being-an-amputee-a-defense -of-oscar-pistoriuss-prostheses/260878/ (3/23/13)