Design and Characterization of a Variable Stiffness Running Prosthesis for Bilateral Transtibial Amputee Sprinters

Master thesis (2018)

Authors

A. Murillo Iraola Mechanical Engineering

Contributors

F.C.T. van der Helm (supervisor 1)
O.K. Bergsma (supervisor 1)
D.J.J. Bregman (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: © 2018 Ainhoa Murillo Iraola
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Published Date

05-10-2018

Language

English

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Faculty

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis project is to design a new concept of sprinting prosthesis to enhance the acceleration phase performance of bilateral transtibial amputees (BTAs) competing in sprinting races. Amputee sprinters are hampered in the acceleration phase of a sprint race by the compliance of their prostheses. Increased contact times, and small and too vertical ground reaction forces limit the acceleration performance of BTAs. A variable stiffness prosthesis, with a higher stiffness at the initial steps of the acceleration phase, would reduce contact times and increase forward propulsion. A new variable stiffness design is proposed in this report. A prototype of this new design is created and characterized by retrieving the stiffness matrices and ellipses. Ottobock's 1E90 prosthesis is also characterized, and the results are compared. For this, a new testing methodology to obtain the stiffness ellipses of running prostheses (RPs) is proposed.