A pneumatically powered below-knee prosthesis: Design specifications and first experiments with an amputee

Author

Versluys, Rino ; Desomer, Anja ; Lenaerts, Gerlinde ; Van Damme, Michael ; Beyl, Pieter ; Van Der Perre, Georges ; Peeraer, Louis ; Lefeber, Dirk

Author_Institution

Robot. & Multibody Mech. Res. Group, Vrije Univ. Brussel, Brussels

fYear

2008

fDate

19-22 Oct. 2008

Firstpage

372

Lastpage

377

Abstract

This paper reports on the development of a powered below-knee (BK) prosthesis. The initial prosthesis prototype is a pneumatically powered system, which serves as test bed for proof-of-concept and evaluating control algorithms in laboratory conditions. The mechatronical design of the prosthesis is described, including the selection, the characteristics and working principle of its actuators. The control approach is discussed. First experimental results with an amputee are presented that demonstrate the promising performance properties of the powered prosthesis in restoring ankle power to the user in level walking.

Keywords

biomechanics; electric power generation; pneumatic actuators; power supplies to apparatus; prosthetics; amputee; ankle power; below knee prosthesis; control algorithm; level walking; pneumatically powered system; Actuators; Biomechanics; Costs; Humans; Laboratories; Legged locomotion; Paramagnetic resonance; Prosthetics; Prototypes; Torque; amputee; gait; pneumatic muscles; power generation; prosthesis; prototype;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 2008. BioRob 2008. 2nd IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on

Conference_Location

Scottsdale, AZ

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-2882-3

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-2883-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/BIOROB.2008.4762842

Filename

4762842