Inventing the Future

Otto Bock Research and Development is creating a better tomorrow. But wait until you see what we're doing the day after tomorrow.

For 90 years Otto Bock has brought new ways to enhance human mobility to the world. With 400 engineers worldwide, our commitment continues to grow. And we are already planning what the next decade will bring, including neurally controlled prostheses, better-faster-stronger microprocessor knees, and ways to help stroke patients walk again. The problems we strive to solve are all about motion and making sure that the medical devices we create help people simply live their lives a little better.

Start making sense

Our nerves allow us to not only control our limbs but also receive feedback about such things as limb position, temperature, and the texture of what we're touching. To gain such a refined system in a prosthesis, scientists have to tackle the issue from both directions.

Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR) is the first step in this direction, in that it allows the user to control multiple prosthetic joints simultaneously and intuitively. The majority of control information is lost, however, and it's limited in how much sensory feedback it can return. In the future, new technologies and surgical techniques could be developed that would allow the existing nerves to be used to their full potential—both for control and sensing. The user will simply think about reaching out and shaking a friend's hand, and the prosthesis will do the rest.

Get wired

An improved interface could be attained with such things as scaffolding made out of microwires, which could be used for the recruitment of neural stem cells and then connected directly to the prosthesis.

Pick up game

Existing prosthetic hands can register the pressure used to hold an object, but in the future, we'll need prostheses that can tell hot from cold, rough from smooth, and even tell us where it is 'in space' without looking at it. These future prostheses will be built with sensors in the fingertips and palms as well as the joints, and then feed that information back to the user. Some of these sensors will be incorporated into an elastic, human-like skin that acts and 'feels' real.

Digital Interface

Existing prostheses are connected to the body with a 'socket' that is custom fitted to the user's limb. Future connections could include 'osseointegration', where the prosthesis is connected directly to the bone in a residual limb. Tissue could be regenerated to create soft-tissue seal around the connection, preventing infection and making the limb look more realistic.

Ghost in the machine

After amputation, some amputees report that they can still 'feel' their limb. Scientists are working to understand this phenomenon so they can help relieve related pain—and even to take advantage of it to create better prosthetic control.