Evaluation of 3D Printed Anatomically Scalable Transfemoral Prosthetic Knee
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2017
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR.2017.8009406
Abstract
This case study compares a transfemoral amputee's gait while using the existing Ossur Total Knee 2000 and our novel 3D printed anatomically scalable transfemoral prosthetic knee. The anatomically scalable transfemoral prosthetic knee is 3D printed out of a carbon-fiber and nylon composite that has a gear-mesh coupling with a hard-stop weight-actuated locking mechanism aided by a cross-linked four-bar spring mechanism. This design can be scaled using anatomical dimensions of a human femur and tibia to have a unique fit for each user. The transfemoral amputee who was tested is high functioning and walked on the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN) at a self-selected pace. The motion capture and force data that was collected showed that there were distinct differences in the gait dynamics. The data was used to perform the Combined Gait Asymmetry Metric (CGAM), where the scores revealed that the overall asymmetry of the gait on the Ossur Total Knee was more asymmetric than the anatomically scalable transfemoral prosthetic knee. The anatomically scalable transfemoral prosthetic knee had higher peak knee flexion that caused a large step time asymmetry. This made walking on the anatomically scalable transfemoral prosthetic knee more strenuous due to the compensatory movements in adapting to the different dynamics. This can be overcome by tuning the cross-linked spring mechanism to emulate the dynamics of the subject better. The subject stated that the knee would be good for daily use and has the potential to be adapted as a running knee.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
2017 International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), p. 1160-1164
Scholar Commons Citation
Ramakrishnan, Tyagi; Schlafly, Millicent; and Reed, Kyle B., "Evaluation of 3D Printed Anatomically Scalable Transfemoral Prosthetic Knee" (2017). Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications. 86.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/egr_facpub/86
