Two of the 14 different bionics research projects featured in “The Bionic Man,” an interactive website developed by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, are from Vanderbilt University.
One is the first lower leg prosthetic with powered knee and ankle joints, developed by Michael Goldfarb, the H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and his colleagues at the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics, which has been licensed by Freedom Innovations, a leading developer and manufacturer of lower limb prosthetic devices, for commercial development.
The second is a research project designed to create a small, surgically implanted and free-standing artificial kidney to treat end stage renal disease headed by Assoc. Professor of Medicine William Fissell. The object of the project is to give patients new hope beyond the short-term solution of renal dialysis and the longer-term, but impermanent, solution of a kidney transplant with the limited number of donor organs available.
The purpose of the website is to help students and the general public learn about the innovative biomedical research being conducted by projects supported by the federal agency.