Alessandro Mazzarini, Ilaria Fagioli, Huseyin Eken, Chiara Livolsi, Tommaso Ciapetti, Alessandro Maselli, Michele Piazzini, Claudio Macchi, Angelo Davalli, Emanuele Gruppioni, Emilio Trigili, Simona Crea, Nicola Vitiello
Reducing energy consumption during walking is a critical goal for transtibial amputees. The study presents the evaluation of a semi-active prosthesis with five transtibial amputees. The prosthesis has a low-power actuator integrated in parallel into an energy-storing-and-releasing foot. The actuator is controlled to compress the foot during the stance phase, supplementing the natural compression due to the user's dynamic interaction with the ground, particularly during the ankle dorsiflexion phase, and to release the energy stored in the foot during the push-off phase, to enhance propulsion...
March 20, 2024: IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering