Whole-body angular momentum during sloped walking using passive and powered lower-limb prostheses

JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS

卷:49

Article

Pickle, Nathaniel T.¹  Wilken, Jason M.²  Whitehead, Jennifer M. Aldridge²  Silverman, Anne K.¹ 

[1] Colorado Sch Mines, Dept Mech Engn, Golden, CO 80401 USA

[2] Brooke Army Med Ctr, Dept Orthopaed & Rehabil, Ctr Intrepid, Jbsa Ft Sam Houston, TX 78234 USA

关键词: Biomechanics;    Uphill;    Downhill;    Amputee;    Falls;    Dynamic balance;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jbiomech.2016.09.010

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Sloped walking requires altered strategies for maintaining dynamic balance relative to level-ground walking, as evidenced by changes in sagittal-plane whole-body angular momentum (H) in able-bodied individuals. The ankle plantarflexor muscles are critical for regulating H, and functional loss of these muscles from transtibial amputation affects this regulation. However, it is unclear if a powered prosthesis, which more closely emulates intact ankle function than a passive energy-storage-and-return prosthesis, affects H differently during sloped walking. Therefore, our purpose was to investigate H in individuals with unilateral transtibial amputation when using powered and passive prostheses. Overall, the range of H was greater in people with a transtibial amputation relative to able-bodied individuals. On a 10 decline, individuals with amputation did not decrease H as much as able-bodied individuals, and had reduced prosthetic limb braking ground reaction forces and knee power absorption. On a +10 degrees incline, individuals with amputation had a greater relative increase of H than able-bodied individuals, a more anterior placement of the prosthetic foot, and higher peak hip power generation. The powered prosthesis condition resulted in a smaller range of H during prosthetic stance relative to the passive condition, although it was still larger than able-bodied individuals. Our results suggest that prosthetic ankle power generation may help regulate dynamic balance during prosthetic stance, but alone is not sufficient for restoring H to that of able-bodied individuals on slopes. Contributions of knee extensor muscles and the biarticular gastrocnemius in regulating H on slopes should be further investigated. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

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