Influence of knee joints of transfemoral prosthesis on walking energy consumption

Abstract

With the primary objective of examining a useful index for appropriate knee joints of above-knee prosthesis, the effect on the human body was studied by measuring walking velocity (m/s), stride length (m), and walking. Subjects consisted of 4 above-knee amputees, and the measurement was conducted using a three-dimensional co-ordinate recorder and a gait analysis system of a force plate. The results suggest that the effect of knee joints can be evaluated by walking energy consumption per unit gait distance.