Conceptual Design of an Active Transtibial Prosthesis Based on Expected Joint and Muscle Forces in a Unilateral Transtibial Amputee: A Modelling Study

Most modern active prostheses try to match the torque generated by the biological ankle in order to assist walking. However, due to the absence of a biarticular component like the gastrocnemius muscle, they are unable to provide complete rehabilitation. In this paper, a conceptual design of a prosthesis, having an active biarticular component is proposed; and it is studied if such a design can help in better rehabilitation of amputees. The muscle and joint forces during walking are predicted for three cases using musculoskeletal models: A healthy person, an Amputee wearing an active uniarticular prosthesis, and an Amputee wearing a prosthesis having active uniarticular as well as biarticular components (proposed design).Based on the required muscle forces and generated joint reaction loads, the proposed model performs better than the uniarticular prostheses.Copyright © 2015 by ASME