These days it costs a lot less than $6 million to become a bionic man.
A prosthetic leg company has come out with a bionic leg that uses a knee joint with the same motion sensing technology as the Nintendo Wii and Apple iPad.
A New York man is among the first in the county to be fitted with the new leg, which costs $95,000.
“I’m looking forward to doing more things with my kids,” said Joe Tucker, 42, a car salesman from Putnam Valley who lost his leg in a 1995 motorcycle accident in the Bronx.
“For the fist time the other day I was actually able to stand behind my four year old and teach him how to swing a bat,” he said.
The leg was produced by Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, in conjunction with the U.S. military. It features a high-tech knee joint called the “Genium Bionic Prosthetic System.”
The knee is fitted with a mini gyroscope and accelerometer, like the ones used in popular electronic devices such as the Wii videogame and the iPad.
The new motion sensing technology helps the knee user better determine which way the leg is moving and make precise motions.
Among the practical effects are that the users can more easily go up stairs and walk on the beach.
“We like to spend a lot of time near the water, and I’m looking forward to going on the sand,” said Tucker. “It will give me freedom more than I’ve had to live.”