Schuy Jochen, Stech Nadine, Harris Graham, Beckerle Philipp, Zahedi Saeed, Rinderknecht Stephan
Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
seleon gmbh, Heilbronn, Germany.
Front Neurorobot. 2020 May 8;14:23. doi: 10.3389/fnbot.2020.00023. eCollection 2020.
Torsion adapters in lower limb prostheses aim to increase comfort, mobility and health of users by allowing rotation in the transversal plane. A preliminary study with two transtibial amputees indicated correlations between torsional stiffness and foot alignment to increase comfort and stability of the user depending on the gait situation and velocity. This paper presents the design and proof-of-concept of an active, bio-inspired prosthetic shank adapter and a novel approach to create a user-specific human-machine interaction through adapting the device's properties. To provide adequate support, load data and subjective feedback of subjects are recorded and analyzed regarding defined gait situations. The results are merged to an user individual preference-setting matrix to select optimal parameters for each gait situation and velocity. A control strategy is implemented to render the specified desired torsional stiffness and transversal foot alignment values to achieve situation-dependent adaptation based on the input of designed gait detection algorithms. The proposed parallel elastic drive train mimics the functions of bones and muscles in the human shank. It is designed to provide the desired physical human-machine interaction properties along with optimized actuator energy consumption. Following test bench verification, trials with five participants with lower limb amputation at different levels are performed for basic validation. The results suggest improved movement support in turning maneuvers. Subjective user feedback confirmed a noticeable reduction of load at the stump and improved ease of turning.
下肢假肢中的扭转适配器旨在通过允许在横向平面内旋转来提高使用者的舒适度、活动能力和健康状况。一项针对两名胫骨截肢者的初步研究表明，扭转刚度与足部对线之间存在相关性，可根据步态情况和速度提高使用者的舒适度和稳定性。本文介绍了一种主动式、受生物启发的假肢小腿适配器的设计和概念验证，以及一种通过调整设备属性来创建用户特定人机交互的新方法。为了提供足够的支撑，记录并分析受试者在特定步态情况下的负荷数据和主观反馈。将结果合并到用户个人偏好设置矩阵中，为每个步态情况和速度选择最佳参数。实施一种控制策略，以呈现指定的所需扭转刚度和横向足部对线值，从而根据设计的步态检测算法的输入实现基于情况的自适应。所提出的并联弹性传动系统模仿了人类小腿中骨骼和肌肉的功能。其设计目的是提供所需的人机交互物理特性，同时优化执行器的能量消耗。经过试验台验证后，对五名不同程度下肢截肢的参与者进行了试验，以进行基本验证。结果表明在转弯动作中运动支撑得到了改善。用户的主观反馈证实残肢处的负荷明显减轻，转弯变得更加轻松。
