Latest

News &
Updates

Research milestones, program announcements, and findings from across Bionic Foundation.

July 2026
Prosthetics
Phase II Trial Results: BF-7 Bionic Arm Achieves 94% Task Completion Rate

Results from our Phase II randomized controlled trial of the BF-7 bionic arm system are in: participants achieved a 94% task completion rate for standardized activities of daily living — a new clinical benchmark for upper-limb prosthetic systems. Full results published open-access.

June 2026
Mobility
All 12 BF-EX3 Exoskeleton Pilot Participants Successfully Walk

All 12 participants in our BF-EX3 powered exoskeleton pilot program completed a supervised 10-meter walk test — including 6 participants who had not taken independent steps in more than four years. The pilot is now expanding to a 40-participant trial at three sites.

May 2026
Spine
Epidural Stimulation Trial: Voluntary Leg Movement Restored in Chronic Complete SCI

Our targeted epidural stimulation protocol has produced voluntary leg movement in five participants with chronic complete thoracic spinal cord injury — including two paralyzed for over a decade. Results are published in open-access and a Phase II trial is now planned.

April 2026
Technology
Neural Interface Platform Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation

The Foundation's high-channel cortical neural interface for prosthetic control has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation — recognizing the device's potential to provide a more effective treatment for people with limb loss and accelerating its clinical development pathway.

March 2026
Mobility
Active Ankle-Foot Orthosis Program Expands to 8-State Clinical Partner Network

Our deployed powered ankle-foot orthosis is now available through 23 prosthetic and orthotics clinics across 8 states, following expansion of our clinical partner network. Fitting support and long-term follow-up are provided through the Foundation's implementation program.

February 2026
Technology
Federated Learning Study: Fleet-Wide Prosthetic Control Improves with 340 Users

A study of our federated learning system across 340 prosthetic users demonstrates that fleet-wide learning improves intent prediction accuracy for new users by 23% compared to training from scratch — without sharing any individual patient data between devices.

January 2026
Spine
Foundation Announces Cervical Stimulation Research Program for Upper-Limb Restoration

We are launching a new basic research program targeting cervical spinal cord stimulation for restoration of arm and hand function after cervical SCI — addressing the most common SCI level and one of the highest-priority restoration goals expressed by SCI patients.

November 2025
Prosthetics
Bionic Hand Grip-Force Feedback Study: Tactile Sensation Restored in 18 Participants

A psychophysical study of our vibrotactile grip-force feedback system in 18 multi-articulating hand prosthetic users shows reliable detection of object contact and grip force across all participants, with 14 reporting improved performance in delicate manipulation tasks.

September 2025
Mobility
Powered Exoskeleton Stair Navigation Module Completes Proof-of-Concept Testing

Our stair navigation module for the BF-EX3 exoskeleton has completed proof-of-concept testing, demonstrating controlled stair ascent and descent for non-ambulatory users — a capability that has significant implications for real-world independence.

An initiative of the Odegard Foundation · Founded 2016 by Philip Odegard