A new approach to a powered knee prosthesis: Layering powered assistance onto strictly passive prosthesis behavior.

This article describes a novel approach to the control of a powered knee prosthesis where the control system provides passive behavior for most activities and then provides powered assistance only for those activities that require them. The control approach presented here is based on the categorization of knee joint function during activities into four behaviors: resistive stance behavior, active stance behavior, ballistic swing, and non-ballistic swing. The approach is further premised on the assumption that healthy non-perturbed swing-phase is characterized by a ballistic swing motion, and therefore, a replacement of that function should be similarly ballistic.

A Primarily-Passive Knee Prosthesis with Powered Stance and Swing Assistance.

This paper describes a knee prosthesis that provides primarily-passive behavior akin to a state-of-the-art modulated passive microprocessor-controlled knee prosthesis (MPK), but also offers powered stance and swing assistance, which are layered on top of the passive functionality. The combination of both passive and powered behaviors is enabled by a unique electronically-selectable two-speed transmission, which enables the combination of very low output impedance and high resistive torques necessary for passive functionality, while also enabling the generative torque-speed characteristics suitable for stance and swing phase assistance. A control system is described that consolidates behaviors appropriate for a wide range of activities of daily living (ADLs) into six states, with each state providing adaptive torque behaviors appropriate for different phases of gait, whether powered or passive.

On the Basis for Stumble Recovery Strategy Selection in Healthy Adults.

Healthy adults employ one of three primary strategies to recover from stumble perturbations-elevating, lowering, or delayed lowering. The basis upon which each recovery strategy is selected is not known. Though strategy selection is often associated with swing percentage at which the perturbation occurs, swing percentage does not fully predict strategy selection; it is not a physical quantity; and it is not strictly a real-time measurement.