CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF AN ACTIVE TRANSTIBIAL PROSTHESIS BASED ON EXPECTED JOINT AND MUSCLE FORCES IN A UNILATERAL TRANSTIBIAL AMPUTEE: A MODELLING STUDY

Most modern active prostheses try to match the torque generated by the biological ankle in order to assist walking. How-ever, due to the absence of a biarticular component like the gastrocnemius muscle, they are unable to provide complete rehabilitation. In this paper, a conceptual design of a prosthesis, having an active biarticular component is proposed; and it is studied if such a design can help in better rehabilitation of amputees. The muscle and joint forces during walking are predicted for three cases using musculoskeletal models: A healthy person, an Amputee wearing an active uniarticular prosthesis, and an Amputee wearing a prosthesis having active uniarticular as well as biarticular components (proposed design). Based on the required muscle forces and generated joint reaction loads, the proposed model performs better than the uniarticular prostheses.