The State of Modern Prosthetics: How Close Are We to Perfect Emulation?

Each year the line between artificial and biological gets thinner and thinner

One of the hallmarks of science fiction is the medical miracle of hyper advanced artificial limbs. The infamous line, “We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better, stronger, faster,” sits in the minds of all scientists who aim to advance modern prosthetics, and accurately describes the almost mythical goal of technology surpassing our own biological system.

Although artificial limbs have progressed exponentially over the past several decades, the fact remains that biological limbs are vastly superior to artificial replacements in nearly every aspect. Billions of years of natural selection have perfected our physiology down to the microscopic level; muscles so efficient and accurate at executing force production that we have yet to emulate an artificial system comparable to this day.

So, how far are we to the ultimate goal of perfectly emulating (or even surpassing) biological limbs? And what are we missing to close the gap?

Leg Prosthetics

Leg prosthetics in running sports have been nearly perfected

When it comes to legs versus arm prosthetics, legs are significantly easier to emulate. The…