Perceptions and biomechanical effects of varying prosthetic ankle stiffness during uphill walking: A case series.

Background: Prosthetic foot stiffness, which is typically invariable for commercially available prosthetic feet, needs to be considered when prescribing a prosthetic foot. While a biological foot adapts its function according to the movement task, an individual with lower limb amputation may be limited during more functionally demanding gait tasks by their conventional energy storing and return prosthetic foot.

Research Question: How do changes in prosthetic foot stiffness during incline walking affect biomechanical measures as well as perception of participants.

Task dependent changes in mechanical and biomechanical measures result from manipulating stiffness settings in a prosthetic foot.

Background: Adaptation of lower limb function to different gait tasks is inherently not as effective among individuals with lower limb amputation as compared to able-bodied individuals. Varying stiffness of a prosthetic foot may be a way of facilitating gait tasks that require larger ankle joint range of motion.

Methods: Three stiffness settings of a novel prosthetic foot design were tested for level walking at three speeds as well as for 7,5° incline and decline walking.

Variable stiffness foot design and validation.

Energy storing and returning prosthetic feet are commonly prescribed. Research has demonstrated advantages to use these types of prosthetic feet. However, their stiffness in the sagittal plane is fixed and cannot adapt to different walking tasks and user preference.

Speed Adaptable Prosthetic Foot: Concept Description, Prototyping and Initial User Testing.

This article presents a novel design of a prosthetic foot that features adaptable stiffness that changes according to the speed of ankle motion. The motivation is the natural graduation in stiffness of a biological ankle over a range of ambulation tasks. The device stiffness depends on rate of movement, ranging from a dissipating support at very slow walking speed, to efficient energy storage and return at normal walking speed.

Assessing the Involvement of Users During Development of Lower Limb Wearable Robotic Exoskeletons: A Survey Study.

Objective: To explore user-centered design methods currently implemented during development of lower limb wearable robots and how they are utilized during different stages of product development.

Background: Currently, there appears to be a lack of standardized frameworks for evaluation methods and design requirements to implement effective user-centered design for safe and effective clinical or ergonomic system application.

Method: Responses from a total of 191 experts working in the field of lower limb exoskeletons were analyzed in this exploratory survey.