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. 2024 Jun 7;19(6):e0303397.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303397. eCollection 2024.

Design and preliminary verification of a novel powered ankle-foot prosthesis: From the perspective of lower-limb biomechanics compared with ESAR foot

Jingjing Liu  1   2 , Jingang Liu  2 , Pei Yi Cheah  3 , Mouaz Al Kouzbary  1 , Hamza Al Kouzbary  1 , Selina X Yao  4 , Hanie Nadia Shasmin  1 , Nooranida Arifin  1 , Nasrul Anuar Abd Razak  1 , Noor Azuan Abu Osman  1   5
Affiliations

Design and preliminary verification of a novel powered ankle-foot prosthesis: From the perspective of lower-limb biomechanics compared with ESAR foot

Jingjing Liu et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

A novel powered ankle-foot prosthesis is designed. The effect of wearing the novel prosthesis and an energy-storage-and-return (ESAR) foot on lower-limb biomechanics is investigated to preliminarily evaluate the design. With necessary auxiliary materials, a non-amputated subject (a rookie at using prostheses) is recruited to walk on level ground with an ESAR and the novel powered prostheses separately. The results of the stride characteristics, the ground reaction force (GRF) components, kinematics, and kinetics in the sagittal plane are compared. Wearing the powered prosthesis has less prolongation of the gait cycle on the unaffected side than wearing the ESAR foot. Wearing ESAR or proposed powered prostheses influences the GRF, kinematics, and kinetics on the affected and unaffected sides to some extent. Thereinto, the knee moment on the affected side is influenced most. Regarding normal walking as the reference, among the total of 15 indexes, the influences of wearing the proposed powered prosthesis on six indexes on the affected side (ankle's/knee's/hip's angles, hip's moment, and Z- and X-axis GRF components) and five indexes on the unaffected side (ankle's/knee's/hip's angles and ankle's/hip's moments) are slighter than those of wearing the ESAR foot. The influences of wearing the powered prosthesis on two indexes on the unaffected side (knee's moment and X-axis GRF component) are similar to those of wearing the ESAR foot. The greatest improvement of wearing the powered prosthesis is to provide further plantarflexion after reaching the origin of the ankle joint before toe-off, which means that the designed powered device can provide further propulsive power for the lifting of the human body's centre of gravity during walking on level ground. The results demonstrate that wearing the novel powered ankle-foot prosthesis benefits the rookie in recovering the normal gait more than wearing the ESAR foot.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. A novel powered ankle-foot prosthesis.
(a) schematic diagram of SE+UPEA. (b) 3D model of the novel ankle-foot prosthesis. (c) exploded view of 3D model: 1–motor module, 2–harmonic drive module, 3–standard adapter, 4–two-stage cable drive module, 5–SE module, 6–UPE module, 7–ESAR foot part. (d) prototype used in the third and fourth trials. (e) prototype with the bypass system and auxiliary materials for the trials.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Diagram of typical motion in one gait cycle of normal walking and normal walking with sticks.
(a) normal walking; (b) normal walking with sticks.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Placement of reflective markers of the optic motion capture system in the first and second trials.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Placement of reflective markers of the optic motion capture system in the third and fourth trials.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Lower-limb joints’ angles in the sagittal plane on the affected side.
(a) right ankle angle; (b) right knee angle; (c) right hip angle. DF: dorsiflexion, PF: plantarflexion, Flex: flexion, Ext: extension.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Lower-limb joints’ moments in the sagittal plane on the affected side.
(a) right knee moment; (b) right hip moment. DF: dorsiflexion, PF: plantarflexion, Flex: flexion, Ext: extension.
Fig 7
Fig 7. Ground reaction forces in the sagittal plane on the affected side.
(a) component along the Z axis (b) component along the X axis.
Fig 8
Fig 8. Lower-limb joints’ angles in the sagittal plane on the unaffected side.
(a) left ankle angle; (b) left knee angle; (c) left hip angle. DF: dorsiflexion, PF: plantarflexion, Flex: flexion, Ext: extension.
Fig 9
Fig 9. Lower-limb joints’ moments in the sagittal plane on the unaffected side.
(a) left ankle moment; (b) left knee moment; (c) left hip moment. DF: dorsiflexion, PF: plantarflexion, Flex: flexion, Ext: extension.
Fig 10
Fig 10. Ground reaction forces in the sagittal plane on the unaffected side.
(a) component along the Z axis (b) component along the X axis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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