A Passive Polycentric Mechanism to Improve Active Mediolateral Balance in Prosthetic Walking
Prosthetic legs are typically passive systems without active ankle control, restricting mediolateral balancing to a hip strategy. Resulting balance control impairments for persons with a lower extremity amputation may be mitigated by increasing hip strategy effectiveness, in which relatively small h...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IEEE
2024-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10342876/ |
| _version_ | 1827381194822516736 |
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| author | Evert S. van Hal Juha M. Hijmans Klaas Postema Egbert Otten |
| author_facet | Evert S. van Hal Juha M. Hijmans Klaas Postema Egbert Otten |
| author_sort | Evert S. van Hal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Prosthetic legs are typically passive systems without active ankle control, restricting mediolateral balancing to a hip strategy. Resulting balance control impairments for persons with a lower extremity amputation may be mitigated by increasing hip strategy effectiveness, in which relatively small hip moments of force are adequate for mediolateral balancing. To increase hip strategy effectiveness we have developed a prosthetic leg prototype based on the Peaucellier mechanism, the Sideways Balance Mechanism (SBM). This polycentric mechanism adds a frontal plane degree of freedom, reducing mediolateral body displacements. Adding a passive joint alone introduces instability, in which mediolateral body rotation leads to CoM height loss, ultimately resulting in a fall. The SBM however provides stability typically absent by lengthening under rotation, thereby compensating for CoM height loss. By allowing for both foot rotation (in-/eversion), and increased mediolateral ground reaction force the SBM increases hip strategy effectiveness. We aimed to provide proof of principle that the SBM can improve active mediolateral balance control in prosthetic walking by increasing hip strategy effectiveness compared to a typical set-up. Comparison between a typical set-up and the SBM showed an increased mediolateral ground reaction force at equal hip moments of force for a 2D forwards dynamics computer simulation, and a reduced hip moment of force at equal mediolateral ground reaction force for a case study. Results validate increased hip strategy effectiveness of the SBM compared to a typical set-up, providing proof of principle that adding an SBM to a prosthetic set-up improves mediolateral balance control in prosthetic walking. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T13:52:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d649fc1062f645c9bcc8a8d045c4596c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1558-0210 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T13:52:39Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IEEE |
| record_format | Article |
| series | IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-d649fc1062f645c9bcc8a8d045c4596c2024-01-16T00:00:45ZengIEEEIEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering1558-02102024-01-0132637110.1109/TNSRE.2023.333970110342876A Passive Polycentric Mechanism to Improve Active Mediolateral Balance in Prosthetic WalkingEvert S. van Hal0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2925-5993Juha M. Hijmans1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3968-9602Klaas Postema2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9794-0434Egbert Otten3Center for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The NetherlandsCenter for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The NetherlandsProsthetic legs are typically passive systems without active ankle control, restricting mediolateral balancing to a hip strategy. Resulting balance control impairments for persons with a lower extremity amputation may be mitigated by increasing hip strategy effectiveness, in which relatively small hip moments of force are adequate for mediolateral balancing. To increase hip strategy effectiveness we have developed a prosthetic leg prototype based on the Peaucellier mechanism, the Sideways Balance Mechanism (SBM). This polycentric mechanism adds a frontal plane degree of freedom, reducing mediolateral body displacements. Adding a passive joint alone introduces instability, in which mediolateral body rotation leads to CoM height loss, ultimately resulting in a fall. The SBM however provides stability typically absent by lengthening under rotation, thereby compensating for CoM height loss. By allowing for both foot rotation (in-/eversion), and increased mediolateral ground reaction force the SBM increases hip strategy effectiveness. We aimed to provide proof of principle that the SBM can improve active mediolateral balance control in prosthetic walking by increasing hip strategy effectiveness compared to a typical set-up. Comparison between a typical set-up and the SBM showed an increased mediolateral ground reaction force at equal hip moments of force for a 2D forwards dynamics computer simulation, and a reduced hip moment of force at equal mediolateral ground reaction force for a case study. Results validate increased hip strategy effectiveness of the SBM compared to a typical set-up, providing proof of principle that adding an SBM to a prosthetic set-up improves mediolateral balance control in prosthetic walking.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10342876/Peaucellierprototypeprosthesispolycentricmediolateral balance control |
| spellingShingle | Evert S. van Hal Juha M. Hijmans Klaas Postema Egbert Otten A Passive Polycentric Mechanism to Improve Active Mediolateral Balance in Prosthetic Walking IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering Peaucellier prototype prosthesis polycentric mediolateral balance control |
| title | A Passive Polycentric Mechanism to Improve Active Mediolateral Balance in Prosthetic Walking |
| title_full | A Passive Polycentric Mechanism to Improve Active Mediolateral Balance in Prosthetic Walking |
| title_fullStr | A Passive Polycentric Mechanism to Improve Active Mediolateral Balance in Prosthetic Walking |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Passive Polycentric Mechanism to Improve Active Mediolateral Balance in Prosthetic Walking |
| title_short | A Passive Polycentric Mechanism to Improve Active Mediolateral Balance in Prosthetic Walking |
| title_sort | passive polycentric mechanism to improve active mediolateral balance in prosthetic walking |
| topic | Peaucellier prototype prosthesis polycentric mediolateral balance control |
| url | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10342876/ |
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