Robotic Prosthesis for Biomimetic Locomotion in Transfemoral Amputees

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的总体假设是，具有主动动力膝关节和踝关节的假体将显著增强许多经股截肢者的活动能力，从而显著提高他们的生活质量。尽管在过去十年中取得了重大的技术进步，但最先进的经股假体仍然局限于能量被动装置。无法提供关节力量严重损害了这些假体恢复许多运动功能的能力，包括上楼和上斜坡，跑步和跳跃，所有这些都需要膝关节，踝关节或两者的显著净正力量。此外，即使在水平行走时，经股截肢者也表现出不对称的步态运动学，消耗更多的能量，并且相对于健康受试者需要显着增加髋关节扭矩，这导致窝界面力显着增加。本提案的假设是，具有主动动力的膝关节和踝关节的假体将显著增强许多经股截肢者的活动能力，既可以减少经股截肢者与健康人在水平行走时的生物力学差异，又可以实现目前最先进的设备无法提供的运动形式，如斜坡和爬楼梯。最近在自供电机器人的供电和驱动方面取得的重大进展使主动供电的股骨假体的可行性近在咫尺。利用这些最新进展，本提案描述了一种开发轻量级经股假体的方法，该假体能够在有效时间内向膝关节和踝关节提供显著的力量。重要的是，本提案中描述的工作将形成一个良好的临床和技术基础，为后续关于拟议和其他主动动力假肢的商业开发决策提供信息。为了形成这个基础，研究人员提出了一种自供电的主动膝关节和踝关节假体原型的开发，该原型基于过去六年开发的实验证明的技术，开发一种新的界面和控制方法，尽可能地作为用户的自然延伸。以及主动股骨假体相对于最先进的被动股骨假体和相对于健康受试者的生物力学益处的特征。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overarching hypothesis of this proposal that a prosthesis with actively powered knee and ankle joints will significantly enhance the mobility of many transfemoral amputees, and therefore significantly enhance their quality of life. Despite significant technological advances over the past decade, state-of-the-art transfemoral prostheses remain limited to energetically passive devices. The inability to deliver joint power significantly impairs the ability of these prostheses to restore many locomotive functions, including walking upstairs and up slopes, running, and jumping, all of which require significant net positive power at the knee joint, ankle joint, or both. Additionally, even during level walking, transfemoral amputees exhibit asymmetric gait kinematics, expend significantly more energy, and require a significant increase in hip torque relative to healthy subjects, which results in significantly increased socket interface forces. It is the hypothesis of this proposal that a prosthesis with actively powered knee and ankle joints will significantly enhance the mobility of many transfemoral amputees, both by diminishing the biomechanical disparity between transfemoral amputees and healthy persons during level walking, and by enabling forms of locomotion, such as ramp and stair climbing, not presently afforded by state-of-the-art devices. Significant recent advances in power supply and actuation for self-powered robots bring the feasibility of an actively-powered transfemoral prosthesis to the near horizon. Leveraging these recent advances, this proposal describes a means of developing a lightweight transfemoral prosthesis with the capability of delivering significant power at the knee and ankle joints over useful periods of time. Importantly, the work described in this proposal will form a sound clinical and technological foundation with which to inform subsequent decisions regarding the commercial development of the proposed and other actively powered prostheses. In order to form this foundation, the investigators propose the development of a self-powered active knee and ankle prosthesis prototype based on experimentally proven technology developed over the past six years, the development of a novel interface and control approach that behaves inasmuch as possible as a natural extension of the user, and the characterization of the biomechanical benefits of an active transfemoral prosthesis relative to state-of-the-art passive transfemoral prostheses and relative to healthy subjects.