Improving Mobility for Bilateral Amputees with Coordinated Robotic Prostheses

描述（由申请人提供）：典型义肢的能量被动行为限制了此类义肢复制健康肢体功能的程度。尽管如此，单侧经股截肢者可以在很大程度上通过其未受影响的腿的代偿行为来弥补这些缺陷。然而，在双侧经股截肢者的情况下，被动假体的生物力学缺陷不能被这种代偿作用所掩盖，因此运动缺陷更为明显。因此，尽管双侧经股截肢者在下肢截肢者中所占比例相对较小，但与单侧或经胫骨截肢者相比，这一人群的残疾程度要高得多。与被动假肢相比，动力假肢（即具有动力膝关节和踝关节）能够在更大程度上模仿健康肢体的生物力学行为。因此，这一提议的潜在假设是一对动力假肢将更好地恢复双侧经股截肢者的步态，相对于

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The energetically passive behavior of typical prostheses limits the extent to which such prostheses can replicate healthy limb function. Despite this, unilateral transfemoral amputees can largely offset these deficiencies with compensatory actions from their unaffected leg. In the case of bilateral transfemoral amputees, however, the biomechanical deficiencies of passive prostheses cannot be masked by such compensatory actions, and therefore the deficiencies in locomotion are considerably more evident. As a result, although bilateral trans- femoral amputees constitute a relative small proportion of lower extremity amputees, this population is substantially more disabled than their unilateral or transtibial counterparts. A powered prosthesis (i.e., with powered knee and ankle joints) is able to emulate the biomechanical behaviors of the healthy limb to a much greater extent than a passive prosthesis. As such, the underlying hypothesis of this proposal is that a pair of powered prostheses will better restore gait to bilateral transfemoral amputees, relative to passive prostheses. In particular, this hypothesis will be evaluated on six bilateral transfemoral amputee subjects by assessing the extent to which the powered prostheses reduce hip joint torque and power, and the extent to which powered prostheses reduce the metabolic cost of transport, relative to each subject's daily-use passive prostheses.