Hugh Herr
Encyclopedia
Hugh Herr is an American rock climber, engineer
and biophysicist.
family from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, Hugh Herr was a prodigy rock climber: by age eight, he had scaled the face of the 11627 feet (3,543.9 m) Mount Temple in the Canadian Rockies
, and by 17 he was acknowledged to be one of the best climbers in the United States
.
In January 1982, after having ascended a difficult technical ice route in Huntington Ravine on Mount Washington
in New Hampshire
, Herr and a fellow climber Jeff Batzer were caught in a blizzard
and became disoriented, ultimately descending into the Great Gulf where they passed three nights in -20F degree temperatures. By the time they were rescued, the climbers had suffered severe frostbite
. Both of Herr’s legs had to be amputated
below the knee
s; his companion lost his lower left leg
, the toe
s on his right foot
, and the finger
s on his right hand
. During the rescue attempt, volunteer Albert Dow was killed by an avalanche
.
Following months of surgeries
and rehabilitation, Herr was doing what doctors told him was unthinkable: climbing again. Using specialized prostheses
that he designed, he created prosthetic feet with high toe stiffness that made it possible to stand on small rock edges the width of a coin, and titanium
-spiked feet that assisted him in ascending steep ice walls. He used these prostheses to alter his height to avoid awkward body positions and to grab hand and foot holds previously out of reach. His height could range from five to eight feet. As a result of using the prostheses, Herr climbed at an advanced level as he had before the accident, making him the first person with a major amputation to perform in a sport on par with elite-level, able-bodied persons.
. While a postdoctoral fellow at MIT in biomedical devices, he began working on advanced leg prostheses and orthoses--devices that emulate the functionality of the human leg.
Herr’s story has been told by Alison Osius in the book Second Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr; a Discovery Channel feature story; and in a 2002 National Geographic movie, Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr.
Currently, Herr is an associate professor in MIT’s Program in Media Arts and Sciences and in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. As head of the Biomechatronics
research group at the MIT Media Lab
, he focuses on developing wearable robotic systems that serve to augment human physical capability. Most of what he designs is not for him, but for others to whose difficulties he can relate.
Herr has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers in the field of rehabilitation science and is the holder (or co-holder) of more than 10 patents related to assistive devices, including those for a computer-controlled artificial knee, commercially available as the Rheo Knee an active ankle-foot orthosis, and the world's first powered ankle-foot prosthesis.
These devices are advancing an emerging field of engineering science that applies principles of biomechanics and neural control to guide the designs of human rehabilitation and augmentative devices. The goal is to rehabilitate individuals that have undergone limb amputation or have suffered a pathology, and also to augment human physical capability for those with normal intact physiologies.
The computer-controlled knee, which is outfitted with a microprocessor that continually senses the joint’s position and the loads applied to the limb, was named to the list of Top Ten Inventions in the health category by TIME magazine in 2004. The robotic ankle-foot prosthesis, which mimics the action of a biological leg and, for the first time, provides transtibial amputees with a natural gait, was named to the same TIME top-ten list in 2007.
In 2007, Herr was presented with the 13th Annual Heinz Award
for Technology, the Economy and Employment. He is also the recipient of the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Leadership Award (2005).
Herr was a member of a team of seven experts in biomechanics and physiology from six universities that conducted experiments on Oscar Pistorius
, the South African bilateral amputee track athlete who had been banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from attempting to qualify for the 400-meter race at the Beijing Olympics. A portion of these results were presented to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne
, Switzerland in May 2008, by Herr and colleague Rodger Kram which resulted in reversing the ban. This allowed Pistorius to become the first disabled athlete to attempt to qualify against able-bodied athletes for an Olympic event. The full findings of the team's experiments were published in the June 18, 2009 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
and biophysicist.
Early life
The youngest of five siblings of a MennoniteMennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
family from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, Hugh Herr was a prodigy rock climber: by age eight, he had scaled the face of the 11627 feet (3,543.9 m) Mount Temple in the Canadian Rockies
Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies comprise the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains range. They are the eastern part of the Canadian Cordillera, extending from the Interior Plains of Alberta to the Rocky Mountain Trench of British Columbia. The southern end borders Idaho and Montana of the USA...
, and by 17 he was acknowledged to be one of the best climbers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In January 1982, after having ascended a difficult technical ice route in Huntington Ravine on Mount Washington
Mount Washington (New Hampshire)
Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at , famous for dangerously erratic weather. For 76 years, a weather observatory on the summit held the record for the highest wind gust directly measured at the Earth's surface, , on the afternoon of April 12, 1934...
in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Herr and a fellow climber Jeff Batzer were caught in a blizzard
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...
and became disoriented, ultimately descending into the Great Gulf where they passed three nights in -20F degree temperatures. By the time they were rescued, the climbers had suffered severe frostbite
Frostbite
Frostbite is the medical condition where localized damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. Frostbite is most likely to happen in body parts farthest from the heart and those with large exposed areas...
. Both of Herr’s legs had to be amputated
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
below the knee
Knee
The knee joint joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the fibula and tibia, and one between the femur and patella. It is the largest joint in the human body and is very complicated. The knee is a mobile trocho-ginglymus , which permits flexion and extension as...
s; his companion lost his lower left leg
Human leg
The human leg is the entire lower extremity or limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh and even the hip or gluteal region; however, the precise definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb extending from the knee to the ankle.Legs are used for standing,...
, the toe
Toe
Toes are the digits of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being digitigrade. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being plantigrade; unguligrade animals are those that walk on hooves at the tips of...
s on his right foot
Foot
The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws...
, and the finger
Finger
A finger is a limb of the human body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates....
s on his right hand
Hand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered extremity located at the end of an arm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs...
. During the rescue attempt, volunteer Albert Dow was killed by an avalanche
Avalanche
An avalanche is a sudden rapid flow of snow down a slope, occurring when either natural triggers or human activity causes a critical escalating transition from the slow equilibrium evolution of the snow pack. Typically occurring in mountainous terrain, an avalanche can mix air and water with the...
.
Following months of surgeries
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
and rehabilitation, Herr was doing what doctors told him was unthinkable: climbing again. Using specialized prostheses
Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
that he designed, he created prosthetic feet with high toe stiffness that made it possible to stand on small rock edges the width of a coin, and titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
-spiked feet that assisted him in ascending steep ice walls. He used these prostheses to alter his height to avoid awkward body positions and to grab hand and foot holds previously out of reach. His height could range from five to eight feet. As a result of using the prostheses, Herr climbed at an advanced level as he had before the accident, making him the first person with a major amputation to perform in a sport on par with elite-level, able-bodied persons.
Career
After his climbing career, Herr began to focus on academics, previously an area of little interest to him. He earned an undergraduate degree in physics at a local college, Millersville University, and a master's degree in mechanical engineering at MIT, followed by a PhD in biophysics from Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. While a postdoctoral fellow at MIT in biomedical devices, he began working on advanced leg prostheses and orthoses--devices that emulate the functionality of the human leg.
Herr’s story has been told by Alison Osius in the book Second Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr; a Discovery Channel feature story; and in a 2002 National Geographic movie, Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr.
Currently, Herr is an associate professor in MIT’s Program in Media Arts and Sciences and in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. As head of the Biomechatronics
Biomechatronics
Biomechatronics is an applied interdisciplinary science that aims to integrate mechanical elements, electronics and parts of biological organisms. Biomechatronics includes the aspects of biology, mechanics, and electronics. It also encompasses the fields of robotics and neuroscience. One example...
research group at the MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
, he focuses on developing wearable robotic systems that serve to augment human physical capability. Most of what he designs is not for him, but for others to whose difficulties he can relate.
Herr has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers in the field of rehabilitation science and is the holder (or co-holder) of more than 10 patents related to assistive devices, including those for a computer-controlled artificial knee, commercially available as the Rheo Knee an active ankle-foot orthosis, and the world's first powered ankle-foot prosthesis.
These devices are advancing an emerging field of engineering science that applies principles of biomechanics and neural control to guide the designs of human rehabilitation and augmentative devices. The goal is to rehabilitate individuals that have undergone limb amputation or have suffered a pathology, and also to augment human physical capability for those with normal intact physiologies.
The computer-controlled knee, which is outfitted with a microprocessor that continually senses the joint’s position and the loads applied to the limb, was named to the list of Top Ten Inventions in the health category by TIME magazine in 2004. The robotic ankle-foot prosthesis, which mimics the action of a biological leg and, for the first time, provides transtibial amputees with a natural gait, was named to the same TIME top-ten list in 2007.
In 2007, Herr was presented with the 13th Annual Heinz Award
Heinz Award
The Heinz Award is an award currently given annually to ten honorees by the Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards recognize outstanding individuals for their contributions in the five areas of: Arts and Humanities, the Environment, the Human Condition, Public Policy, and Technology, the Economy...
for Technology, the Economy and Employment. He is also the recipient of the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Leadership Award (2005).
Herr was a member of a team of seven experts in biomechanics and physiology from six universities that conducted experiments on Oscar Pistorius
Oscar Pistorius
Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is a South African sprint runner. Known as the "Blade Runner" and "the fastest man on no legs", Pistorius, who has a double amputation, is the world record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 metres events and runs with the aid of Cheetah Flex-Foot carbon fibre transtibial...
, the South African bilateral amputee track athlete who had been banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from attempting to qualify for the 400-meter race at the Beijing Olympics. A portion of these results were presented to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland in May 2008, by Herr and colleague Rodger Kram which resulted in reversing the ban. This allowed Pistorius to become the first disabled athlete to attempt to qualify against able-bodied athletes for an Olympic event. The full findings of the team's experiments were published in the June 18, 2009 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Notable grants and awards
- Spirit of Da Vinci Award (2008)
- Action Maverick Award (2008)
- 13th Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment (2007)
- TIME magazine Top Ten Inventions 2004
- TIME magazine Top Ten Inventions 2007
- Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Leadership Award (2005)
- Science magazine Next Wave: Best of 2003
- Young American Award (1990)
- United States College Academic Team (1990)
- Sports Hall of Fame (1989)
- With the Providence VA Center for Restorative and Regenerative Medicine and Brown University, a $7.2 million grant from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to create "biohybrid" limbs to restore natural function to amputees. (2004)
Notable rock climbs
- 1983 Vandals, GunksShawangunk RidgeThe Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains.The ridgetop, which widens considerably at...
, FA with Lynn HillLynn HillLynn Hill is a United States rock climber, known as a top sport climber of the 1980s and famous for making the first free ascent of the Nose Route on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley....
and Russ Clune, first 5.13 on the East Coast. - 1984 Stage Fright (5.12c X), Cathedral Ledge, North Conway, NH. First Ascent.
- 1986 Ride of the Valkyries (5.12a), Careno Crag, Leavenworth, WA - First Ascent.
- 1986 City Park (5.13c), Index Town Walls, WA - 2nd ascent.