Collaborative Research: Bioinspired High Energy Recycling Mechanism Ankle Foot Prosthesis

合作研究：仿生高能回收机制踝足假肢

• 批准号: 2231032
• 负责人: Hwan Choi
• 金额: $ 31.56万
• 依托单位: The University of Central Florida Board of Trustees
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-15 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2231032&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Bioinspired; Energy; Recycling

Persons with lower limb amputation rely on ankle foot prostheses for walking. An ideal ankle foot prosthesis has stiffness and energy return adjustment features that can optimally adapt its settings to allow for efficient gait in different environments and at various speeds. However, state-of-the-art ankle foot prostheses use conventional elastic components such as springs, carbon fiber blades, or beams that do not provide optimal energy return during gait. This study proposes an ankle foot prosthesis that integrates a high energy return mechanism to provide improved assistance and evaluates its impact on walking function for persons with lower limb amputation. The proposed research has the potential to improve the quality of life for the 2.1 million people with lower limb amputations in the United States. The project will also educate high school, undergraduate, and graduate students with outreach programs. This outreach program will focus on exploring engineering-related principles with the human musculoskeletal system and assistive devices. This will be done by demonstrating how motion capture systems can create muscle activation signals in real-time, and also demonstrating the usage of an open-source musculoskeletal simulation software to interpret these examples. The program will be presented through a week-long summer science camp at the University of Central Florida and Region V Mississippi Science & Engineering Fair program at Mississippi State University.The main motivation for this project is to develop a prosthetic device, completely distinguished from the current state-of-art prosthetic devices to decrease the excessive effort lower limb prosthetic device users require when walking. This project is the first attempt to employ this unique highly efficient energy recycling mechanism into a prosthetic device to enable optimal walking motions for persons with lower limb amputation. This study will also address the critical need for a lightweight semi-active ankle foot prosthesis that provides optimal stiffness and greater energy return at different walking speeds. To do this, a machine learning-based design optimization will be used to determine the curvatures and contours of the elastic spring of the prosthesis. The established elastic spring model will be evaluated with finite element analyses and bending tests. Then, participants with lower limb amputation will walk with the developed prosthesis to identify the efficacy of the prosthesis. Designing a prosthetic device that meets these critical needs will not only identify the impact of stiffness on walking and musculotendon function but also fill the clinical need for an efficient prosthesis for use in daily living.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

下肢截肢者依靠踝足假肢行走。理想的踝足假肢具有刚度和能量返回调节功能，可以最佳地调整其设置，从而在不同环境和不同速度下实现高效步态。然而，最先进的踝足假肢使用传统的弹性部件，例如弹簧、碳纤维叶片或梁，这些部件在步态期间不能提供最佳的能量返回。这项研究提出了一种踝足假肢，它集成了高能量返回机制，以提供更好的帮助，并评估其对下肢截肢者步行功能的影响。拟议的研究有望改善美国 210 万下肢截肢患者的生活质量。该项目还将通过推广计划来教育高中生、本科生和研究生。该推广计划将重点探索人类肌肉骨骼系统和辅助设备的工程相关原理。这将通过演示运动捕捉系统如何实时创建肌肉激活信号，并演示如何使用开源肌肉骨骼模拟软件来解释这些示例来完成。该项目将通过中佛罗里达大学为期一周的夏季科学营和密西西比州立大学密西西比州第五区科学与工程博览会项目进行展示。该项目的主要动机是开发一种假肢装置，完全区别于假肢装置。当前最先进的假肢装置，可减少下肢假肢装置用户在行走时所需的过度努力。该项目是首次尝试将这种独特的高效能量回收机制应用到假肢装置中，以使下肢截肢者能够实现最佳的行走动作。这项研究还将解决对轻质半主动踝足假肢的迫切需求，该假肢在不同的步行速度下提供最佳的刚度和更大的能量回报。为此，将使用基于机器学习的设计优化来确定假肢弹性弹簧的曲率和轮廓。所建立的弹性弹簧模型将通过有限元分析和弯曲试验进行评估。然后，下肢截肢的参与者将带着开发的假肢行走，以验证假肢的功效。设计满足这些关键需求的假肢装置不仅可以确定僵硬对行走和肌肉腱功能的影响，还可以满足日常生活中使用的高效假肢的临床需求。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为是值得的通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来提供支持。