Article

Carbon fiber running-specific prostheses are designed to reproduce the
spring-like stepping behavior of individuals similar to springs loaded by the
entire body mass (i.e. spring-mass model). The aim of this study was to test
whether leg stiffness would be modulated differently between intact and
prosthetic legs in transfemoral amputees wearing RSP during sprinting. Eight
unilateral transfemoral amputees performed maximum sprinting along an indoor
overground runway. Leg stiffness was calculated from kinetic and kinematic data
in intact and prosthetic legs. The results showed that leg stiffness was for the
prosthetic limb approximately 12% decreased compared to the intact limb. Although
there was no difference in leg compression between the legs, maximal vertical
ground reaction force was significantly greater in the intact leg than in the
prosthetic one. These results indicate that asymmetric modulation of leg
stiffness in transfemoral amputees with running-specific prostheses is mainly
associated with asymmetric ground reaction force.
CI - Copyright (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS