Transfemoral prosthetic systems and methods for operating the same
First Claim
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1. A transfemoral prosthetic device associated with a limb, comprising:
- a foot unit;
a tibial member pivotally attached to the foot unit to define an ankle joint;
a femoral member pivotally attached relative to the tibial member to define a knee joint;
an actuator operatively coupled to the ankle joint and configured to actively adjust an ankle-angle between the tibial member and the foot unit during at least a portion of a swing phase of a gait cycle;
at least one sensor disposed on the transfemoral prosthetic device and configured to generate data indicative of at least one of position or movement of the transfemoral prosthetic device during a gait of a user; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to;
receive said generated data,determine the ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device and that the user is moving up an incline or down a decline based at least in part on said generated data,determine ankle-angle adjustments based at least in part on determining that the user is moving up the incline or down the decline and on said determined ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device satisfying an ankle-angle threshold, wherein the ankle-angle adjustments comprise a first ankle-angle adjustment and a second ankle-angle adjustment, and wherein the first ankle-angle adjustment is used for ankle angle amounts in between a first threshold and a second threshold and the second ankle-angle adjustment is used for ankle angle amounts beyond the second threshold,generate a control signal based at least in part on said determined ankle-angle adjustments of the transfemoral prosthetic device, andactively adjust the ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device by actuating the at least one actuator operatively coupled to the ankle joint during at least a portion of the swing phase of the gait cycle based at least in part on said generated control signal.
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Abstract
Certain embodiments of the invention relate to increasing the functionality of a transfemoral prosthetic device. In one embodiment, the transfemoral prosthetic device is configured such that the prosthetic knee maintains a load consistent with a healthy knee walking on level ground, while the prosthetic ankle adjusts for the incline or decline. In certain embodiments, adjustments, such as a toe lift function, are automatically performed after about three strides of the transfemoral prosthetic device user and/or when each of the strides has a stride speed of at least about 0.55 meters/second.
587 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A transfemoral prosthetic device associated with a limb, comprising:
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a foot unit; a tibial member pivotally attached to the foot unit to define an ankle joint; a femoral member pivotally attached relative to the tibial member to define a knee joint; an actuator operatively coupled to the ankle joint and configured to actively adjust an ankle-angle between the tibial member and the foot unit during at least a portion of a swing phase of a gait cycle; at least one sensor disposed on the transfemoral prosthetic device and configured to generate data indicative of at least one of position or movement of the transfemoral prosthetic device during a gait of a user; and a processor communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to; receive said generated data, determine the ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device and that the user is moving up an incline or down a decline based at least in part on said generated data, determine ankle-angle adjustments based at least in part on determining that the user is moving up the incline or down the decline and on said determined ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device satisfying an ankle-angle threshold, wherein the ankle-angle adjustments comprise a first ankle-angle adjustment and a second ankle-angle adjustment, and wherein the first ankle-angle adjustment is used for ankle angle amounts in between a first threshold and a second threshold and the second ankle-angle adjustment is used for ankle angle amounts beyond the second threshold, generate a control signal based at least in part on said determined ankle-angle adjustments of the transfemoral prosthetic device, and actively adjust the ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device by actuating the at least one actuator operatively coupled to the ankle joint during at least a portion of the swing phase of the gait cycle based at least in part on said generated control signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A transfemoral prosthetic device associated with a limb, comprising:
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a foot unit; a tibial member pivotally attached to the foot unit to define an ankle joint; a femoral member pivotally attached relative to the tibial member to define a knee joint; an actuator operatively coupled to the ankle joint and configured to actively adjust an ankle-angle between the tibial member and the foot unit during at least a portion of a swing phase of a gait cycle; at least one sensor disposed on the transfemoral prosthetic device and configured to generate data indicative of at least one of position or movement of the transfemoral prosthetic device during a gait of a user; and a processor communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to; receive said generated data, determine the ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device and that the user is moving up an incline based at least in part on said generated data, determine ankle-angle adjustments based at least in part on determining that the user is moving up the incline and on said determined ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device satisfying an ankle-angle threshold, wherein the ankle-angle adjustments are based on an angular amount of the incline, wherein the ankle-angle adjustments comprise a first ankle-angle adjustment and a second ankle-angle adjustment, wherein the first ankle-angle adjustment is used for incline angular amounts greater than a first threshold but lower than a second threshold and the second ankle-angle adjustment is used for incline angular amounts greater than the second threshold; generate a control signal based at least in part on said determined ankle-angle adjustments of the transfemoral prosthetic device, and actively adjust the ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device by actuating the at least one actuator operatively coupled to the ankle joint during at least a portion of the swing phase of the gait cycle based at least in part on said generated control signal.
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21. A transfemoral prosthetic device associated with a limb, comprising:
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a foot unit; a tibial member pivotally attached to the foot unit to define an ankle joint; a femoral member pivotally attached relative to the tibial member to define a knee joint; an actuator operatively coupled to the ankle joint and configured to actively adjust an ankle-angle between the tibial member and the foot unit during at least a portion of a swing phase of a gait cycle; at least one sensor disposed on the transfemoral prosthetic device and configured to generate data indicative of at least one of position or movement of the transfemoral prosthetic device during a gait of a user; and a processor communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to; receive said generated data, determine the ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device and that the user is moving down a decline based at least in part on said generated data, determine ankle-angle adjustments based at least in part on determining that the user is moving down the decline and on said determined ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device satisfying an ankle-angle threshold, wherein the ankle-angle adjustments are based on an angular amount of the decline, wherein the ankle-angle adjustments comprise a first ankle-angle adjustment and a second ankle-angle adjustment, wherein the first ankle-angle adjustment is used for decline angular amounts greater than a first threshold but lower than a second threshold and the second ankle-angle adjustment is used for decline angular amounts greater than the second threshold; generate a control signal based at least in part on said determined ankle-angle adjustments of the transfemoral prosthetic device, and actively adjust the ankle-angle of the transfemoral prosthetic device by actuating the at least one actuator operatively coupled to the ankle joint during at least a portion of the swing phase of the gait cycle based at least in part on said generated control signal.
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Specification