Hydraulic system for a knee-ankle assembly controlled by a microprocessor
AssigneeProteor
InventorsXavier Bonnet, Francis Djian
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A prosthesis can include a femoral segment suitable for a femoral connection to a user and a tibial segment connected to the femoral segment based on an articulation which reproduces movements of the knee, the tibial segment being articulated on a foot segment based on an articulation reproducing movements of the ankle, a first hydraulic damper the ends of which are joined respectively with the femoral and tibial segments, and a second hydraulic damper of which the ends are joined respectively with the tibial and foot segments.
Claims16
A femoral knee-ankle prosthesis comprising:
- a femoral segment suitable for a femoral connection to a user and a tibial segment connected to the femoral segment based on an articulation which reproduces the movements of the knee, the tibial segment being articulated on one foot based on an articulation reproducing the movements of the ankle, a first hydraulic cylinder of which the ends are joined respectively with the femoral and tibial segments, and a second hydraulic cylinder of which the ends are joined respectively with the tibial segment and the foot, an upper chamber of the first hydraulic cylinder is connected to a lower chamber of the second hydraulic cylinder through a conduit connected laterally to the upper chamber of the first hydraulic cylinder, and an electronic control unit that controls both of the first hydraulic cylinder and the second hydraulic cylinder depending on the phase of the walking cycle and a situation faced by the user including a stance phase and a swing phase in such a manner that a first flexion of the knee allows a first dorsiflexion of the ankle in proportion to the movement of the knee during the stance phase and such that a second flexion of the knee results in a second dorsiflexion of the ankle in proportion to the movement of the knee during the swing phase.
A femoral knee-ankle prosthesis comprising:
- a femoral segment suitable for a femoral connection to a user and a tibial segment connected to the femoral segment based on an articulation which reproduces the movements of the knee, the tibial segment being articulated on one foot based on an articulation reproducing the movements of the ankle, a first hydraulic cylinder of which the ends are joined respectively with the femoral and tibial segments, and a second hydraulic cylinder of which the ends are joined respectively with the tibial segment and the foot, an upper chamber of the first hydraulic cylinder is connected to a lower chamber of the second hydraulic cylinder through a conduit connected laterally to the upper chamber of the first hydraulic cylinder, and an electronic control unit that controls both of the first hydraulic cylinder and the second hydraulic cylinder depending on the phase of the walking cycle and a situation faced by the user including a stance phase and a swing phase in such a manner that a first flexion of the knee allows a first dorsiflexion of the ankle in proportion to the movement of the knee during the stance phase and such that a second flexion of the knee of between 30° and 60° results in a second dorsiflexion of the ankle in proportion to the movement of the knee during the swing phase, wherein a ratio of the second dorsiflexion of the ankle to the second flexion of the knee is between 1/4 and 2/5.
A method of controlling a femoral knee-ankle prosthesis including a femoral segment suitable for a femoral connection to a user and a tibial segment connected to the femoral segment based on an articulation which reproduces the movements of the knee, the tibial segment being articulated on one foot based on an articulation reproducing the movements of the ankle, a first hydraulic cylinder of which the ends are joined respectively with the femoral and tibial segments, and a second hydraulic cylinder of which the ends are joined respectively with the tibial segment and the foot, an upper chamber of the first hydraulic cylinder is connected to a lower chamber of the second hydraulic cylinder through a conduit connected laterally to the upper chamber of the first hydraulic cylinder, and an electronic control unit that controls both of the first hydraulic cylinder and the second hydraulic cylinder depending on the phase of the walking cycle and a situation faced by the user including a stance phase and a swing phase,
- wherein the method comprises a first flexion of the knee allowing a first dorsiflexion of the ankle in proportion to movement of the knee during the stance phase and a second flexion of the knee resulting in a second dorsiflexion of the ankle in proportion to the movement of the knee during the swing phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.