A new possibility of climbing upstairs person with above-knee prosthesis
The loss of a leg through amputation is followed by the loss of the corresponding supporting structures, joints, ligaments and nervous-muscular system, which provide energy and leg control. The most modern generation of AK prostheses is considered to be an important step forward in the technology of the manufacture of AK prostheses, since they offer the closest proximity to natural human walking. However, the problem of climbing stairs for the transfemoral amputee has not yet been resolved. The reason lies in the need to introduce an external source of power, which would provide the user with the energy required to lift the body when climbing stairs. The kinematics analysis of movement of the AK prosthesis with a buil-int hydraulic cylinder connected to an external source of power is intended to prove that there is a real possibility for a person with an AK prosthesis to climb stairs. An analysis was carried out of the prosthesis movement in a sagital plane for the period of climbing from the first contact of the artificial foot with the step of a stair until the moment of its separation. Trajectories of characteristic points on the prosthesis were recorded for the examinee climbing three staircases with different gradients: shallow SH (25o ; ), moderate M (30o ; ) and steep ST (36o ; ). An ELITE system with two CCD cameras was used for the tests. Keywords: kinematic analysis, above-knee prosthesis, hydraulic cylinder.