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US 6,517,585 B1Granted
Lower limb prosthesis
AssigneeChas. A. Blatchford & Sons Limited
InventorsMir Saeed Zahedi, Andrew John Sykes, Stephen Terry Lang
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AssigneeChas. A. Blatchford & Sons Limited
InventorsMir Saeed Zahedi, Andrew John Sykes, Stephen Terry Lang
Estimating the term…
A lower limb prosthesis for an above-knee amputee has an adaptive control system which includes a knee flexion control device arranged to resist flexion at the knee joint both hydraulically and pneumatically by means of a dual piston and cylinder assembly. Sensors arranged to sense knee bending moments and knee flexion angle provide electrical signals which are fed to a processing circuit for automatically adjusting the hydraulic and pneumatic resistance to flexion according to the activity mode of the amputee and, when walking, according to the speed of the cylinder containing hydraulic fluid. The hydraulic resistance to flexion predominates during the stance phase and pneumatic resistance predominates during the swing phase. Provision is made for programmable resistance during level walking, walking on an incline, descending stairs and during a stumble.
A lower limb prosthesis for an above-knee amputee, having an adaptive control system which comprises a knee flexion control device arranged to resist flexion at a knee joint both hydraulically and pneumatically, and an electronic processing circuit electrically coupled to sensor means and a control device for automatically adjusting the hydraulic and pneumatic resistance to knee flexion according to actions of the amputee.
An adaptive control system for a lower limb prosthesis intended for an above-knee amputee, comprising a knee flexion control device for resisting flexion at the knee joint both hydraulically and pneumatically, at least one sensor device for generating electrical sensor signals in response to loading of the prosthesis, and an electronic processing circuit electrically coupled to each of the sensor device and the control device for automatically adjusting the hydraulic and pneumatic resistance to knee flexion according to the actions of the amputee.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.