U.S. scientists take steps to making "bionic" leg

CHICAGO (Reuters) - As 20-year-old Hailey Daniswicz flexes muscles in her thigh, electrodes attached to her leg instruct a computer avatar to flex its knee and ankle -- parts of Hailey's leg that have been missing since 2005.

Daniswicz, a sophomore at Northwestern University who lost her lower leg to bone cancer, is training the computer to recognize slight movements in her thigh so she can eventually be fitted with a "bionic" leg -- a robotic prosthesis she would control with her own nerves and muscles.