Levi J. Hargrove
Northwestern University, University of New Brunswick, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Papers
39
Total Citations
2,703
H-Index
20
About
Levi J. Hargrove is a pioneering biomedical engineer whose research sits at the intersection of neural engineering, prosthetics, and rehabilitation robotics. Based primarily at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and Northwestern University, Hargrove has dedicated his career to developing intelligent, responsive bionic limbs that restore meaningful function to individuals with limb loss. His most celebrated contributions center on decoding neural and electromyographic (EMG) signals to enable intuitive prosthetic control. His early work on targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) demonstrated how surgically rerouted nerves could dramatically expand the information available for controlling artificial arms, a breakthrough that has accumulated over 216 citations. Extending this principle to lower limbs, his 2013 clinical study of robotic leg control in a transfemoral amputee — now cited 254 times — helped establish EMG-based intent recognition as a viable real-world strategy. Hargrove has also championed open, accessible hardware, exemplified by his team's open-source bionic leg (227 citations), which has accelerated collaborative research globally. His work spans wearable electronics, adaptive machine learning algorithms, and hybrid actuation systems, with publications collectively accumulating over 2,000 citations. Across his career, Hargrove has consistently bridged laboratory innovation and clinical translation, advancing prosthetic technology toward broader, more equitable patient access.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2Toward higher-performance bionic limbs for wider clinical use262 citations · 2021
- 3Robotic Leg Control with EMG Decoding in an Amputee with Nerve Transfers254 citations · 2013
- 4Design and clinical implementation of an open-source bionic leg227 citations · 2020
- 5
- 6Decoding a New Neural–Machine Interface for Control of Artificial Limbs216 citations · 2007
- 7
- 8Design, development, and testing of a lightweight hybrid robotic knee prosthesis152 citations · 2018
- 9Online adaptive neural control of a robotic lower limb prosthesis135 citations · 2017
- 10