Shock absorption of below-knee prostheses: a comparison between the SACH and the Multiflex foot.
Shock waves were measured during walking on a treadmill on the metal tube of a below-knee KBM prosthesis, provided either with a SACH foot or with a Multiflex foot. Accelerations were measured in the axial direction and the dorso-ventral direction, about 160 mm proximal to the sole of the shoe. The accelerations had comparable amplitudes to those measured on normal legs. Dorso-ventral amplitudes (order of magnitude 4 g) were generally higher than the axial amplitudes. For some patients, the SACH foot gave much higher axial accelerations than the Multiflex foot did. In the dorso-ventral direction, the SACH foot showed a moderate resonance phenomenon in the autospectral density function in the range of 40-50 Hz. The Multiflex foot showed a more variable behaviour. For both types of feet, components above 65 Hz were negligible.
van Leeuwen
J L
JL
Research Group on Human-Joint Biomechanics, Anatomical Laboratory, University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
Speth
L A
LA
Daanen
H A
HA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged