Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Prosthetic knee linkage design tool, software
Abstract
This poster and interactive demonstration presents an educational computer design tool which could enable prosthetists and mechanical designers to tailor the motion of low-cost, four-bar prosthetic knees to the sizes and needs of individual amputees. In designing a prosthetic knee joint, it is important to control the position of the lower leg in three angles of flexion and to control its center of rotation in the standing position. In 2010 [1] this problem was analyzed using vector methods, and an algorithm was written which produced curves displaying pivot locations which solve the problem exactly. Since then, a software tool called Speciknee has been developed by building on the core vector computational method and adding a user-friendly operator interface through which a designer could input individual patient needs, select pivot points along the set of curves where prosthetic joint pivots could be placed, and animate the mechanism.
[1] Thompson, Thomas J., 2010, "Specification of Prosthetic Knee Kinematic Design Parameters Using a Three-position, Instant-center Specification Approach," paper No. IMECE2010-38645, Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, November.
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-16-2014 11:00 AM
End Date
4-16-2014 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Interact with Speciknee: A Software Tool for Design of Simple Four-bar Prosthesic Knee Joints
Cedarville, OH
This poster and interactive demonstration presents an educational computer design tool which could enable prosthetists and mechanical designers to tailor the motion of low-cost, four-bar prosthetic knees to the sizes and needs of individual amputees. In designing a prosthetic knee joint, it is important to control the position of the lower leg in three angles of flexion and to control its center of rotation in the standing position. In 2010 [1] this problem was analyzed using vector methods, and an algorithm was written which produced curves displaying pivot locations which solve the problem exactly. Since then, a software tool called Speciknee has been developed by building on the core vector computational method and adding a user-friendly operator interface through which a designer could input individual patient needs, select pivot points along the set of curves where prosthetic joint pivots could be placed, and animate the mechanism.
[1] Thompson, Thomas J., 2010, "Specification of Prosthetic Knee Kinematic Design Parameters Using a Three-position, Instant-center Specification Approach," paper No. IMECE2010-38645, Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, November.
