Article

The ankle joint of currently available powered prostheses is capable of
controlling one degree of freedom (DOF), focusing on improved mobility in the
sagittal plane. To increase agility, the requirements of turning in prosthesis
design need to be considered. Ankle kinematics and kinetics were studied during
sidestep cutting and straight walking. There were no significant differences
between the ankle sagittal plane mechanics when comparing sidestep cutting and
straight walking; however, significant differences were observed in ankle frontal
plane mechanics. During straight walking, the inversion-eversion (IE) angles were
smaller than with sidestep cutting. The ankle that initiated the sidestep cutting
showed progressively increasing inversion from 2 to 13 degrees while the
following contralateral step showed progressively decreasing inversion from 8 to
-4 degrees during normal walking speed. The changes in IE kinematics were the
most significant during sidestep cutting compared with straight walking. The IE
moments of the step that initiated the sidestep cutting were always in eversion,
acting as a braking moment opposing the inverting motion. This suggests that an
ankle-foot prosthesis with active DOFs in the sagittal and frontal planes will
increase the agility of gait for patients with limb loss.

Langue : ANGLAIS