Thirty years ago the idea of a "Bionic Man" was the stuff of campy TV and futuristic science fiction. Today, a Canadian company is taking fiction a step closer to reality.

Victhom Human Bionics, a Quebec City robotics company, has announced plans to market the world's first bionic limb.

Guy Brousseau, who lost his left leg in a motorcycle crash, now walks on a prosthetic limb. He says it's better than nothing, but it has limitations. Working to move the leg tires him out, and the extra work the muscles in his back are required to do causes him pain.

The problem with traditional prosthetics is that the wearer does all the work. That means it's very hard to walk quickly or uphill, and especially to climb stairs.

People like Brousseau are the target customers for the new bionic limb, which is undergoing final testing and is expected to be on the market in a few months. Brousseau is happy to be part of trials.

Engineer Stephane Bedard, Victhom's founder and chief scientific officer, has been working for years on this project. He had to decode the human step, computerize it, and feed the data back to a mechanical leg.

It's still not quite as good as the real thing, but closer than ever before.

"We cannot talk about running, but we can talk about walking very fast," Bedard said. "It's truly better than any passive prothesis."

Victhom is partnered with the Institut de réadaptation en déficience physique de Québec to conduct tests of the motorized leg before it reaches the market. Ossur, an international manufacturer of prosthetics devices, will distribute the legs.

One drawback is the price: about $35,000.