SBIR Phase I: Quasi-Active Prosthetic Ankle System: Dynamic Angle and Stiffness Optimizations for Multiple Gait Activities

SBIR 第一阶段：准主动假肢踝关节系统：多种步态活动的动态角度和刚度优化

• 批准号: 1520230
• 负责人: Jeffrey Ward
• 金额: $ 15万
• 依托单位: SpringActive, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-07-01 至 2016-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1520230&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Quasi; Active; Prosthetic

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that its successful completion will lead to greater access to improved, smart prosthetics devices. The proposed work will develop assistive technology for the lower limb amputee population. The majority of the 1.8 million Americans suffering from limb loss have a lower limb amputation. Living with a lower limb loss results in severe long term health challenges; hip and knee replacement surgeries, Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, reduced activity levels, increased weight gain, socket discomfort, and chronic lower back pain. The proposed system promises to improve health by supporting a more active lifestyle through increased walking comfort and efficiency. This has significant societal impact on the growing amputee population through increased community and family involvement. Because of the many possibilities to control the proposed research device, human mobility scientists will be able to study amputee walking compensations by tuning different parameters on the system. This new tool will likely lead to new concepts on how to further reduce the long term consequences of amputee walking. This research is targeted for functional level K2 and above amputees. Improving functionality without increasing the cost over similar systems means the market potential and societal impact will be substantial. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is focused on the support of individuals that have lost a lower limb. Living with the loss of a lower limb has severe effects on an individual?s mobility, including; reduced walking speed, increased reliance on the healthy limb, increased walking asymmetry, difficulty navigating uneven surfaces, and reduced stability with increased risk of falling. Proper ankle angle adaptation to a sloped surface is important for amputees, otherwise severe compensations arise in their remaining joints. The research objective of the proposed work is to develop a prosthetic ankle that adapts its equilibrium position to a slope while dynamically optimizing its torsional stiffness. These features will ensure a natural loading response on the amputated limb while providing the most possible assistance from a passive system. A unique actuator design that can simultaneously change its length and stiffness properties will be incorporated into an ankle prosthesis. This prosthesis will be microprocessor controlled, and while not adding positive energy to a step, it will optimize angle and stiffness parameters at every point within the step. The result of such a device would be improved walking stability, comfort, and efficiency for a lower limb amputee.

该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于，其成功完成将导致更多地使用改进的智能假体设备。 拟议的工作将为下肢截肢者人群开发辅助技术。 180万肢体损失的美国人中，大多数人具有下肢截肢。 下肢损失的生活导致严重的长期健康挑战；髋关节和膝关节置换手术，骨关节炎，骨质疏松症，活动水平降低，体重增加增加，插座不适和慢性下背部疼痛。 拟议的系统有望通过提高步行舒适度和效率来支持更积极的生活方式，从而改善健康。 通过增加社区和家庭参与，这对不断增长的截肢者人群产生了重大的社会影响。 由于控制拟议的研究设备的许多可能性，人类流动性科学家将能够通过调整系统上的不同参数来研究截肢者步行补偿。 这个新工具可能会导致有关如何进一步减少截肢者步行的长期后果的新概念。 这项研究针对功能级K2及以上截肢者。 改善功能而不增加相似系统成本的成本意味着市场潜力和社会影响将是巨大的。 这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）I阶段项目的重点是失去下肢的个人的支持。 丧失下肢的生活对个人的流动性有严重影响，包括：步行速度降低，对健康肢体的依赖增加，步行不对称，难以导航不平衡表面以及稳定性降低，而下降风险增加。 适当的踝角适应倾斜的表面对于截肢者很重要，否则在其剩余的关节中会产生严重的补偿。 拟议工作的研究目标是开发一种假肢脚踝，该脚踝将其平衡位置适应斜率，同时动态优化其扭转刚度。 这些功能将确保在截肢的肢体上做出自然的载荷响应，同时从被动系统提供最大可能的帮助。 可以同时改变其长度和刚度特性的独特执行器设计将纳入脚踝假体中。 该假体将受到微处理器的控制，尽管不在步骤中添加正能量，但它将优化步骤中每个点的角度和刚度参数。 这种设备的结果将改善下肢截肢者的步行稳定性，舒适性和效率。