Smart Integrated Lower Limb (SILL)

Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico is participating in a project to develop a Smart Integrated Lower Limb (SILL). This project is funded through the DOE's Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention Program. In this project we are teaming with Seattle Orthopedic Group, Inc. (SOGI), and Russian scientists and engineers formerly at Chelyabinsk-70.

Every country has a great need for prosthetics. In the United States alone, there are an estimated 260,000 lower limb amputees with 40,000 additional annually. These new cases cost one billion dollars per year just to meet initial patient requirements. In the former Soviet Union, the problem is at least as great as in the US. In some third world countries the problem is of epidemic proportions — primarily due to land mines.

The goal of the SILL project is to design a limb system that functions more like a sound limb; one that is both more functional and more comfortable. The current method for creating a lower limb system is to assemble separate components (i.e. ankle, knee, socket) together. These components do not work together in any integrated fashion. The SILL design integrates the functions of the separate components, which will enable the wearer to better simulate human gait, even on varying terrain. This will be accomplished by a micro-processor controlled module implanted in the leg responding to sensor input from sensors strategically located throughout the limb system. Another part of the project is to design a socket whose geometry will vary as the residual limb changes volume throughout the day. This advance will greatly enhance the comfort of the limb.

The development of SILL is expected to yield results that will subsequently benefit amputees. In fact, Ivan Sabel, president of Hanger Orthopedic, the biggest manufacturer of orthotics and prosthetics in the US, has said "This is taking us – an industry that has gone in 30 years from plastic to carbon fibers – to the next generation.”

The SILL system consists of a Smart Variable Volume Socket (SVVS), a Smart Neurological Control System (SNCS), a Smart Electronically Controlled Knee (SECK), and a Smart Electronically Controlled Ankle (SECA). Design of the individual component of the SILL system, as well as the control system that will integrate them, is underway.

Press Release and other articles:

http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2000/smartleg.htm
http://www.sandia.gov/LabNews/LN10-06-00/leg_story.html
http://www.sensorsmag.com/articles/1200/32/index.htm

Contacts:
Deepesh Kholwadwala
(505) 284-3683
email: dkkholw@sandia.gov

Media Inquiries:
Neal Singer
email: nsinger@sandia.gov