Bluetooth is the name for short-range wireless technology that can connect computers to printers, MP3 players to speakers and -- perhaps the most well-known use -- cell phones to ear pieces, all of which are wirelessly done, but other than these did you know it could make a handicap walk? Well ask Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill who lost both his legs above the knees when a bomb exploded under his Humvee while on patrol in Iraq on October 15, 2006. He has 32 pins in his hip and a 6-inch screw holding his pelvis together. He is one of two Iraq war veterans, both double leg amputees, to use the Bluetooth prosthetics. Computer chips in each leg send signals to motors in the artificial joints so the knees and ankles move in a coordinated fashion. Bleill's set of prosthetics have Bluetooth receivers strapped to the ankle area. The Bluetooth device on each leg tells the other leg what it's doing, how it's moving, whether walking, standing or climbing steps, for example. He uses walking sticks to get around because he says its not a pretty sight when he walks on his new limbs. What I find amazing about this is the fact that the amount of intelligence that's at work when we are walking, running or climbing. A limbless person doesn't have the liberty to intuitively tell his or her legs to slow down or stop. However with this new Bluetooth innovation the operator just has to flex his thigh muscle and accurately control his prosthetic limb.

This new generation of prosthetic technology was originally conceived to help amputees who had lost only one leg. But it's working for Bleill and Army Lt.Col.Gregory Gadson, who is also using the Bluetooth devices in his legs. What they are experiencing will help future amputees, it's the undying spirit of these soldiers will make them overcome any obstacle life throws at them & yet lead a normal life.

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