Cleg

The C-Leg:
Helping amputees walk safer, easier and more naturally

Losing a leg is not only traumatic but also profoundly changes your life, and the everyday activities taken for granted, like walking and riding a bike. While an artificial leg can help you walk again, using a traditional prosthesis can be a stiff, labored and difficult process, and not support some activities like bike riding.

One of world's 1st 'bionic' legs
UAlberta researchers Kelly James and Richard Stein helped change that with the C-Leg®--the world's first fully microprocessor-controlled knee that functions like a real knee. This 'bionic' leg has transformed how amputees walk by adapting to their movement in real-time, making walking easier, safer and more natural than using a traditional prosthesis. The C-Leg even lets people walk backwards and down stairs, and play sports or ride a bike--not easy tasks for an amputee.

Ahead of its time
The C-Leg uses an intelligent sensor chip to detect where the limb is in space and makes precise adjustments at every moment of every step. The result is a smooth step. When created in the early 90s, the C-Leg was ahead of its time; microprocessors and computers were not commonplace. When UAberta spin-off company BioMech Designs took it to market so people could actually use it, they had trouble selling it-until German prosthetics company Otto Bock saw it. They saw the potential and bought the rights.

Still an industry leader
Today, 20 years later, the C-Leg is still an industry leader. Since its creation, it has helped over 70,000 people around the world, walk better, easier, safer and more naturally.