( CNN ) -- Craig Hutto lost his right leg in a shark attack when he was 16 years old . Soon after that he became one of the first people to test out a new prosthetic leg created at Vanderbilt University . Researchers there have developed the first fully robotic artificial leg for above-knee amputees . The `` bionic leg , '' as it is called , uses a variety of sensors and motors that replicate muscle and joint movement in a healthy limb . This mechanism creates a more natural stride and allows users to do things that are not possible with normal prosthesis , such as run or go up and down steps and inclines in a natural way . While we 're not quite at the point of `` The Six Million Dollar Man '' bionics , exoskeleton technology is starting to show real promise in helping people with disabilities . Check out the video above to see the bionic leg in action .
Bionic leg is the result of a nine - year research effort led by Michael Goldfarb at Vanderbilt . The world 's first fully robotic leg allows amputees to run and navigate inclines naturally . The technology was bought by Applied Mechanics and is slated to be released in 2018 . One of its first users is a young man who lost his leg in a shark attack in Florida .