Todd Kuiken

Doctor, Engineer, Idea generator, Scientist

Todd A. Kuiken received a B.S. degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University (1983), a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (1989) and his M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School (1990). He is a board certified physiatrist (1995) at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (1995). Dr. Kuiken is an internationally respected leader in the care of people with limb loss: both as an active treating physician and as a research scientist. Dr. Kuiken’s research team is working to develop a neural-machine interface to improve the function of artificial limbs. The main research focus of the lab is developing a technique to use nerve transfers for improvement of myoelectric prosthesis control. By transferring the residual arm nerves in an upper limb amputee to spare regions of muscle it is possible to make new signals for the control of robotic arms. These signals are be directly related to the original function of the limb and allow simultaneous control of multiple joints in a natural way. Similarly, hand sensation nerves grow into spare skin so that when this skin is touched, the amputee feels like their missing hand is being touched. In addition to their research on prosthetic arms, his team has also started to develop a neural interface for power lower limb prostheses.

Improving the lives of people with disabilities. The needs are great and rising in a complicated world. I am particularly passionate about effectively merging man and machine for seamless function.

amputation, Bionics Engineering, Prosthetics, rehabilitation medicine

Wood working. I love working with my hands, the process of creating things in wood and other materials and having something tangible to see along the way.