The smart-folk at Massachusetts Institute of Technology revealed an new prosthesis today. It's an advanced foot/ankle combination that's a big 'step up' from previous prostheses.

"This design releases three times the power of a conventional prosthesis to propel you forward and, for the first time, provides amputees with a truly human-like gait," said one Professor Hugh Herr, head of the biomechatronics research group at MIT. "It's wild -- like you're on one of those moving walkways in the airport," he enthusiastically related to MIT News.  

This new super-robo ankle has "tendon-like" springs in it, and an electric motor. The wizards of MIT figured out how to get the cyborg foot to store energy from movement, and then release this energy at the right moment, to give amputees a little spring to their step. The light and flexible robo-ankle has computers which "constantly 'think' and respond, allowing [a] person to walk or run in a more natural and comfortable way," said researcher Joel Kupersmith.

Thanks to the war in Iraq, the market for prosthetics has really perked up in the last few years. In response to this burgeoning demand for more robo-limbs, Vetern's Affairs has earmarked $6.9 million for the construction of a new rehabilitation research building, at the Providence VA Medical Center.

A major reason behind building this new research building is to further the development of  new "biohybrid" limbs. Researchers, with backgrounds in orthopedics, tissue engineering, prosethic design and neurotechnology, are all going to come together, to design a new breed of cybernetic super-limbs. 

"The ankle kind of has a mind of its own," said Iraq war-vet Garth Stewart, in an interview with boston.com. "At first I felt like it was fighting me, but once I got accustomed to the rhythm, it felt like having my leg back."

The robo-ankle may hit stores as early as Q3 2008.