---
title: "Doctors Are Using AI and VR to Improve People’s Prosthetic Limbs"
description: "Through new virtual reality simulations and with the help of AI algorithms, doctors can now take a lot of the guesswork out of fitting patients with a new prosthetic limb. Though it’s still early days for the new prosthetic-fitting techniques, doctors report that fine-tuning a robotic knee with reinforcement learning AI algorithms cut the entire […]"
date: "2019-09-05"
modified: "2019-09-05"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/ai-vr-improve-prosthetic-limbs"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Virtual Reality"
tags:
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "prosthetic limbs"
  - "virtual reality"
---

# Doctors Are Using AI and VR to Improve People’s Prosthetic Limbs

![New artificial intelligence and virtual reality tools are making it easier for doctors and their patients to fit new prosthetic limbs.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ai-vr-improve-prosthetic-limbs.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image:  Coapt LLC /Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

With virtual reality and AI, doctors can now take a lot of the guesswork out of fitting patients with [new prosthetic limbs](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/prosthetic-hand-womans-nerves>).

Though it's still early days for the new prosthetic-fitting techniques, doctors report that fine-tuning a robotic knee with AI can cut the process down to ten minutes from several hours, [according to *MDDI Online*](<https://www.mddionline.com/machine-learning-and-vr-are-driving-prosthetics-research>). If more doctors adopt the technique, it could mean more convenience and comfort for patients who too often have to deal with [uncomfortable and poorly-fitted](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/prosthetic-limbs-interchangeable>) prosthetics.

Without the VR fitting tools, doctors need to predict in advance how skilled a person will be at wielding a prosthetic limb, lest they struggle to [find their balance](<https://futurism.com/bionics-artificial-limbs>) when trying to take their first steps. The VR research isn't yet published, but *MDDI* reports that it will be presented at this week's annual meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

"Most devices, especially rehabilitation assistive devices, need tuning or adjustment and personalizing for every individual," Helen Huang, a biomedical engineer at North Carolina State University who's working on the AI side of things, told *MDDI*.

She hopes to develop an algorithm that can quickly develop a custom fit for any amputee in need of a new limb, taking into account factors that are much harder for a human doctor to predict.

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)