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US 11,883,304 B2Granted
Prosthetic knee with swing assist
AssigneeVanderbilt University
InventorsMichael Goldfarb, Almaskhan Baimyshev, Harrison Bartlett, Jantzen Lee
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure provides for a device and method of control for an artificial prosthetic knee. A prosthetic knee according to the present disclosure relies on strictly passive means of providing support during weight bearing and supplements a resistive swing-phase mechanism with a small powered actuator. This actuator adds power to the knee, exclusively during swing phase, to improve swing-phase behavior. In particular, the knee still relies on the resistive swing-phase mechanism to provide nominal swing-phase knee motion, but supplements that motion as needed with the small powered actuator.
Claims9
A knee prosthesis, comprising:
- a shank link;
- a polycentric knee joint comprising an extension stop, the extension stop substantially preventing the knee prosthesis from hyperextending;
- a thigh link rotatably coupled to the shank link by the polycentric knee joint;
- at least one powered control element configured to power rotation of the thigh link relative to the shank link;
- at least one sensor;
- and a controller coupled to the at least one sensor, the controller configured to:
- receive sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and determine, based at least on the sensor measurements, a present state of a plurality of states comprising at least a swing state and a stance state;
- and
- cause the at least one powered control element to power rotation if the present state is a swing state;
- wherein the polycentric knee joint is further configured to provide a center of rotation of the thigh link relative to the shank link, wherein the center of rotation is substantially posterior to a ground reaction force vector if the present state is the stance state, and
- wherein the at least one powered control element is configured to apply a maximum torque on the knee prosthesis which is substantially smaller than a maximum torque provided by the polycentric knee joint when the polycentric knee joint is hyperextended.
8 more elements
A knee prosthesis, comprising:
- a shank link;
- a polycentric knee joint comprising an extension stop, the extension stop substantially preventing the knee prosthesis from hyperextending;
- a thigh link rotatably coupled to the shank link by the polycentric knee joint;
- at least one powered control element configured to power rotation of the thigh link relative to the shank link;
- at least one sensor;
- and
- a controller coupled to the at least one sensor, the controller configured to:
- receive sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and determine, based at least on the sensor measurements, a present state of a plurality of states comprising at least a swing state and a stance state;
- and
- cause the at least one powered control element to power rotation if the present state is a swing state;
- wherein the polycentric knee joint is further configured to provide a center of rotation of the thigh link relative to the shank link, wherein the center of rotation is substantially posterior to a ground reaction force vector if the present state is the stance state, and
- a plurality of revolute connecting links and a plurality of prismatic connecting links.
9 more elements
A knee prosthesis, comprising:
- a shank link;
- a polycentric knee joint comprising an extension stop, the extension stop substantially preventing the knee prosthesis from hyperextending;
- a thigh link rotatably coupled to the shank link by the polycentric knee joint;
- at least one powered control element configured to power rotation of the thigh link relative to the shank link;
- at least one sensor;
- and
- a controller coupled to the at least one sensor, the controller configured to:
- receive sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and determine, based at least on the sensor measurements, a present state of a plurality of states comprising at least a swing state and a stance state;
- and
- cause the at least one powered control element to power rotation if the present state is a swing state;
- wherein the polycentric knee joint is further configured to provide a center of rotation of the thigh link relative to the shank link, wherein the center of rotation is substantially posterior to a ground reaction force vector if the present state is the stance state,
- where the at least one powered control element powers rotation exclusively in the swing state.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.