A method of adaptively controlling the stance phase damping of a prosthetic knee worn by a patient comprising the steps of: providing a memory in said prosthetic knee, said memory having stored therein correlations between sensory data and stance phase damping established in clinical investigations of amputees of varying body size； measuring substantially instantaneous sensory information using sensors local to said prosthetic knee as said patient stands, walks or runs； and using the instantaneous sensory information in conjunction with said correlations to automatically adjust stance phase damping suitable for said patient without requiring patient specific information to be pre-programmed in said prosthetic knee.
