Michael Smerka, a clinical prosthetist, puts in battery into a BiOM worn by Rick Knapton, a full-time ankle test specialist.
(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)
Innovation economy
Michael Smerka, a clinical prosthetist, puts in battery into a BiOM worn by Rick Knapton, a full-time ankle test specialist.
(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)
iWalk is part of a cluster of local companies exploring how new materials, sensors, and increasingly miniaturized technologies can create devices that would restore capabilities that people have lost — or even upgrade ones they were born with. iWalk founder Hugh Herr likes to toss out a mind-bending scenario: If a prosthetic device could help you run longer distances or swing a golf club more powerfully than your own arm or leg, would you consider replacing your flesh-and-bones with titanium-and-silicon?
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