Replicating Natural Knee Movement in a Mechanism for Potential Use in Prosthetics

There is no prosthetic knee on the market today that allows users to both run and walk on smooth or uneven terrain. This study will see if replicating natural knee motion could be used in a knee prosthetic and may lead to more varied gaits for an above-the-knee amputee. The majority of current prosthetic knees have limited gaits due to the choice of damper and no actuator. They are left to compensate to ensure that the foot can go through a full gait cycle. They do this by not following the knee’s natural movement and instead creating a knee path that has a higher slope to ensure that the foot clears the ground but can return to the heel strike at the correct time. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) literature data was used that measured the X-axis displacement of the femoral condyles on the tibial plateaus. This data was paired with literature on knee flexion data from a walk and run as well as measurements of femoral condyles. Together, this created a curve based on natural knee movement and measurements to accommodate both walking and running. This curve was used to create 3D models for testing. It was found that the model which included 2 degrees of freedom (DOF) was reproducible and had a standard deviation of 0.11 for X displacement and 0.06 for Y displacement. The model that turned the two DOF motion into a one DOF linkage will need to be further investigated as the data was inaccurate, with a standard deviation of 0.22 for X displacement and 0.18 for Y displacement. It should be noted that an institutional review board (IRB) application is underway, and more data will be added once approved.

Author

• Malinowski, Sarah

Language

• en

Keyword

• knee
• biomechanics
• prosthetic

Date created

• 2023

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Biomedical Engineering

Degree

• M.S.

Advisor

• Park, Chung-Hyuk

Committee Member(s)

• Park, Chung-Hyuk
• Zara, Jason
• Krauthamer, Victor
• Zderic, Vesna

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/5x21tg258