TY - JOUR
T1 - Design and clinical implementation of an open-source bionic leg
AU - Azocar, Alejandro F.
AU - Mooney, Luke M.
AU - Duval, Jean François
AU - Simon, Ann M.
AU - Hargrove, Levi J.
AU - Rouse, Elliott J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank U. H. Lee, T. Sharkey and M. Mongeon for their assistance. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (grant no. DGE-1324585), NSF National Robotics Initiative (NRI; grant no. CMMI 1734586) and the MSL Renewed Hope Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - In individuals with lower-limb amputations, robotic prostheses can increase walking speed, and reduce energy use, the incidence of falls and the development of secondary complications. However, safe and reliable prosthetic-limb control strategies for robust ambulation in real-world settings remain out of reach, partly because control strategies have been tested with different robotic hardware in constrained laboratory settings. Here, we report the design and clinical implementation of an integrated robotic knee–ankle prosthesis that facilitates the real-world testing of its biomechanics and control strategies. The bionic leg is open source, it includes software for low-level control and for communication with control systems, and its hardware design is customizable, enabling reduction in its mass and cost, improvement in its ease of use and independent operation of the knee and ankle joints. We characterized the electromechanical and thermal performance of the bionic leg in benchtop testing, as well as its kinematics and kinetics in three individuals during walking on level ground, ramps and stairs. The open-source integrated-hardware solution and benchmark data that we provide should help with research and clinical testing of knee–ankle prostheses in real-world environments.
AB - In individuals with lower-limb amputations, robotic prostheses can increase walking speed, and reduce energy use, the incidence of falls and the development of secondary complications. However, safe and reliable prosthetic-limb control strategies for robust ambulation in real-world settings remain out of reach, partly because control strategies have been tested with different robotic hardware in constrained laboratory settings. Here, we report the design and clinical implementation of an integrated robotic knee–ankle prosthesis that facilitates the real-world testing of its biomechanics and control strategies. The bionic leg is open source, it includes software for low-level control and for communication with control systems, and its hardware design is customizable, enabling reduction in its mass and cost, improvement in its ease of use and independent operation of the knee and ankle joints. We characterized the electromechanical and thermal performance of the bionic leg in benchtop testing, as well as its kinematics and kinetics in three individuals during walking on level ground, ramps and stairs. The open-source integrated-hardware solution and benchmark data that we provide should help with research and clinical testing of knee–ankle prostheses in real-world environments.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41551-020-00619-3
DO - 10.1038/s41551-020-00619-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 33020601
AN - SCOPUS:85092092462
VL - 4
SP - 941
EP - 953
JO - Nature Biomedical Engineering
JF - Nature Biomedical Engineering
SN - 2157-846X
IS - 10
ER -