Prosthetics have helped athletes get back on the track and given hands a restored sense of touch. But what about when you want to get dressed up for a night out and wear high heels?
That’s what Prominence is for.
A group of Johns Hopkins mechanical engineering students designed the prosthetic foot specifically to fit in high heels, according to JHU Hub. The maximum heel for a prosthetic foot currently on the market is two inches. Prominence is aiming to balance the tallest stilettos.
Testing Prominence on a flat surface. (Photo courtesy of Johns Hopkins)
After two semesters of work, the Senior Design Team’s prototype includes a flexible ankle, and was successfully tested with 5.5-inch stilettos.
While it’s aimed at high fashion, the project arose out of a grim reality. As more women are entering combat roles in the military, there will be more who lose limbs.
“For female veterans of the U.S. armed services with lower limb amputations, that seemingly innocuous, but so pervasive, and decidedly feminine part of their lives is gone,” the students wrote in their final project report.
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