3/9/2017 Jan Andrysek; Matthew J. Leineweber; Hankyu Lee
J. Mech. Des. 2017; 139(3):035001-035001-7
doi: 10.1115/1.4035372
People with severe impairment of the lower body caused by conditions such as polio or stroke often rely on assistive devices for mobility. Knee orthosis plays an important role in restoring mobility by stabilizing the weakened lower limb and providing support for standing and walking. Concurrently, the orthosis should allow for natural and efficient movement of the limb as required for walking. The focus of this work is to develop a new method for controlling orthotic knee joints. The new control method uses a mechanical system to monitor loading and timing events and patterns, and apply knee-locking function when the limb is loaded. A prototype was built and tested on a polio patient and demonstrated the feasibility of this approach for providing reliable orthotic function. Further work aims to test the knee joint on a larger group of individuals within the community.
For the full paper please visit ASME’s Digital Collection.
