Two lower-limb prostheses designed by teams from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) took the podium at Cybathlon 2024, held in Switzerland October 25-27.
Omnia, for people with transfemoral amputations, was designed by the joint Rehab Technologies IIT-Istituto Nazionale per l’Assicurazione (INAIL) lab and earned first place in the category after marking its first public appearance, while SoftFoot Pro, from IIT’s Soft Robotics for Human Cooperation and Rehabilitation Unit, claimed second place.
The event brings together research centers and companies from around the world to showcase technological innovations designed for individuals with motor disabilities. Sixty-seven international teams competed across eight categories on courses designed to test the devices through a series of daily life activities. In the Leg Prosthesis category, 13 teams from Italy, India, Belgium, Chile, Poland, Taiwan, Switzerland, South Africa, Iceland, and the United Kingdom faced off.
The Omnia system comprises a motorized knee and ankle. The knee combines hydraulic and electric technologies; the hydraulic system aids in level walking or descending, ensuring quiet, smooth movement and energy efficiency, and the electric technology provides active assistance during tasks such as climbing stairs, ascending steep slopes, or standing from a seated position. Omnia was the only device to reach the leg prosthesis final without using commercial components. Its pilot, Andrea Modica, completed nine out of ten tasks, including navigating a balance beam while carrying buckets, ascending and descending stairs with objects, and traversing an inclined plane, in a time of two minutes and 57 seconds out of a maximum of six minutes.
“We are very pleased with this victory, the excellent teamwork, and the outstanding results we are achieving in our joint collaboration with INAIL on lower-limb prosthetics,” said Matteo Laffranchi, coordinator of Rehab Technologies, IIT-INAIL. “At Cybathlon, we were able to give a first demonstration of how the Omnia prosthesis—bionic at both the knee and ankle levels—enables high versatility and functionality, even in challenging environments.”
The SoftFoot Pro, which debuted at the G7 Health technical event in July, was developed by IIT’s SoftBots research unit. Its design can deform and adapt autonomously to various obstacles and surfaces, which enhances gait naturalness and user stability, even on uneven terrains. Its pilot Flavio Gaggero also completed nine out of ten tasks in a time of three minutes and 46 seconds.
“We are proud to have secured the second place in the competition. Our innovative technology replicates the essential characteristics of the human foot, including the structure of the plantar fascia and energy storage capacity similar to the agonist-antagonist muscular system,” says Manuel Catalano, team leader of SoftFoot Pro. “This advancement significantly improves stability and energy efficiency, as demonstrated by our performance.”
IIT also participated in the Arm Prosthesis category with the Rehab Tech Arm team and the Hannes device, developed in the Rehab Technologies IIT-INAIL lab. It was worn by pilot Chiara Storchi, who placed seventh in the category.
Editor’s note: This story was adapted from materials provided by IIT.
