Preliminary Evaluation of an Automatically Stance-Phase Controlled Pediatric Prosthetic Knee Joint Using Quantitative Gait Analysis
Presented in part to the Association of Children’s Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics, March 16–19, 2005, Orlando, FL.
Abstract
Andrysek J, Redekop S, Naumann S. Preliminary evaluation of an automatically stance-phase controlled pediatric prosthetic knee joint using quantitative gait analysis.
Objectives
To evaluate the effects on gait of a new pediatric prosthetic knee joint using an automatic stance-phase lock (ASPL), shown previously to help prevent falls, and to propose future design considerations and prosthetic alignments.
Design
Case series and crossover trial.
Setting
Human movement laboratory.
Participants
Three children with unilateral above-knee amputations and 3 children with bilateral above-knee or below-knee amputations.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Spatiotemporal, kinematic, and kinetic gait parameters.
Results
Spatiotemporal parameters indicated higher gait velocities with the ASPL knee joint for the children with unilateral amputations. The increased speed, as expected, was associated with increased temporal interlimb asymmetry, joint moments and powers, and excessive prosthetic knee range of motion in swing. A trend toward increased pelvic motions was observed with ASPL knee when compared with conventional knees.
Conclusions
The biomechanic performance of the single-axis ASPL knee joint was shown to be comparable with more complex polycentric pediatric prosthetic knee joint technologies worn by the children in this study.
aBloorview Research Institute, Bloorview Kids Rehab, Toronto, ON, Canada
bInstitute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Reprint requests to Jan Andrysek, MASc, Bloorview Kids Rehab, 150 Kilgour Rd, Toronto, ON M4G 1R8, Canada
Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Heath Research (grant no. PPP-63077), Heffernan Co-Steel Innovation Scholarship, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the Bloorview Children’s Hospital Foundation.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
ABSTRACT