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Active Knee Prosthesis Study for Improvement of Locomotion for Above Knee Amputees

NCT00771589 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 10

Last updated 2008-10-13

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The purpose of this study is to develop a robust, low-power, stable, and light weight, active knee prosthetic device that can dramatically increase gait symmetry and walking economy of a transfemoral amputee during walking.

State of the art prosthetic knees can be classified into three main classes: a) mechanically passive, b) variable-damping, and c) powered. Although the devices within each of these classes offer some advantages for above-knee amputees, their overall performance still presents some deficiencies. Artificial knees in the first two groups are predominantly damping devices, incapable of providing positive power output. Moreover, current powered prostheses are heavy and inefficient in their energy consumption, and/or they have a limited range of motion. To overcome such inadequacies, we have designed a novel prosthetic knee device with a biomimetic approach.

The design of the active knee prosthesis is inspired by the antagonistic muscle anatomy of the human knee joint. This device mimics the synergistic muscle activity at the knee using a double series-elastic actuator (SEA) system that resembles the major mono-articular muscle groups that help flex and extend the knee joint. The agonist-antagonist SEA knee architecture will allow for precise force control of the knee joint, mimicking the spring-like behavior of the human knee, as well as providing adequate energy for forward progression of the body. The SEA has been previously developed and tested on legged robots. Also, the SEA has been successfully applied to the development of an actuated ankle-foot orthoses (AAFO) at MIT AI Lab.

The mechanical architecture of the active knee prosthesis allows for independent engagement of flexion and extension tendon-like, series springs for the control of joint position and impedance, as well as net joint torque. Furthermore, this architecture permits a joint rotation with near zero friction, allowing the controller to take advantage of the passive dynamics of the system, thus, augmenting the overall energetic efficiency of the system.

Conditions

  • Amputation

Interventions

DEVICE

Active Knee Prosthesis

Motorized External Knee Prosthesis for above knee amputees.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Hugh Herr, Ph.D. · Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
50 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2008-05-31
Primary Completion
2009-01-31
Completion
2009-04-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00771589 on ClinicalTrials.gov