Collaborative Research: Bioinspired High Energy Recycling Mechanism Ankle Foot Prosthesis

合作研究：仿生高能回收机制踝足假肢

• 批准号: 2231032
• 负责人: Hwan Choi
• 金额: $ 31.56万
• 依托单位: The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-15 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2231032&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Bioinspired; Energy; Recycling

Persons with lower limb amputation rely on ankle foot prostheses for walking. An ideal ankle foot prosthesis has stiffness and energy return adjustment features that can optimally adapt its settings to allow for efficient gait in different environments and at various speeds. However, state-of-the-art ankle foot prostheses use conventional elastic components such as springs, carbon fiber blades, or beams that do not provide optimal energy return during gait. This study proposes an ankle foot prosthesis that integrates a high energy return mechanism to provide improved assistance and evaluates its impact on walking function for persons with lower limb amputation. The proposed research has the potential to improve the quality of life for the 2.1 million people with lower limb amputations in the United States. The project will also educate high school, undergraduate, and graduate students with outreach programs. This outreach program will focus on exploring engineering-related principles with the human musculoskeletal system and assistive devices. This will be done by demonstrating how motion capture systems can create muscle activation signals in real-time, and also demonstrating the usage of an open-source musculoskeletal simulation software to interpret these examples. The program will be presented through a week-long summer science camp at the University of Central Florida and Region V Mississippi Science & Engineering Fair program at Mississippi State University.The main motivation for this project is to develop a prosthetic device, completely distinguished from the current state-of-art prosthetic devices to decrease the excessive effort lower limb prosthetic device users require when walking. This project is the first attempt to employ this unique highly efficient energy recycling mechanism into a prosthetic device to enable optimal walking motions for persons with lower limb amputation. This study will also address the critical need for a lightweight semi-active ankle foot prosthesis that provides optimal stiffness and greater energy return at different walking speeds. To do this, a machine learning-based design optimization will be used to determine the curvatures and contours of the elastic spring of the prosthesis. The established elastic spring model will be evaluated with finite element analyses and bending tests. Then, participants with lower limb amputation will walk with the developed prosthesis to identify the efficacy of the prosthesis. Designing a prosthetic device that meets these critical needs will not only identify the impact of stiffness on walking and musculotendon function but also fill the clinical need for an efficient prosthesis for use in daily living.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

下肢截肢的人依靠踝脚假肢进行行走。理想的脚踝假体具有刚度和能量返回调整功能，可以最佳地调整其设置，以便在不同的环境和各种速度下有效步态。但是，最先进的脚踝脚步使用了常规的弹性组件，例如弹簧，碳纤维叶片或在步态过程中不提供最佳能量回流的光束。这项研究提出了一个脚踝假体，该假体整合了高能量回报机制，以提供改进的援助，并评估其对下肢截肢者的步行功能的影响。拟议的研究有可能改善美国有210万人口的生活质量。该项目还将教育高中，本科生和研究生的外展计划。该外展计划将着重于使用人类肌肉骨骼系统和辅助设备探索与工程相关的原则。这将通过证明运动捕获系统如何实时创建肌肉激活信号，并证明使用开源肌肉骨骼模拟软件来解释这些示例。该计划将通过在佛罗里达州中部大学和密西西比州立大学的Vineysippi Science＆Engineering Fair计划的为期一周的夏季科学训练营进行介绍。该项目的主要动机是开发一种假肢设备，完全区分与先进的前所未有的假肢设备，以减少降低过度的下级假言用户的努力。该项目是将这种独特的高效能量回收机制作为假肢设备的首次尝试，以使下肢截肢者的最佳步行动作。这项研究还将解决对轻质半活活的脚踝假体的关键需求，该假体可提供最佳的刚度和更大的能量回报，以不同的步行速度。为此，将使用基于机器学习的设计优化来确定假体弹性弹簧的曲率和轮廓。已建立的弹性弹簧模型将通过有限元分析和弯曲测试评估。然后，下肢截肢的参与者将与已发达的假体一起行走，以确定假体的功效。设计一种满足这些关键需求的假肢设备不仅会确定僵局对步行和肌肉钟山功能的影响，而且还满足了在日常生活中有效使用的假体的临床需求。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子和更广泛的影响来评估的支持，并被认为是值得的。