title: Biomechanical and clinical evaluation of a newly designed polycentric knee of transfemoral prosthesis.
abstract: We have designed a new polycentric knee adopting a hydraulic unit and an intelligent mechanism. The biomechanical parameters of this prototype, such as the stance duration, peak knee flexion angle in stance and swing, peak hip flexion angle, and peak hip extension moments were analyzed at three different cadences (88, 96, 104 steps/min) in three amputees, and then compared to those of polycentric hydraulic knees currently in use. The same parameters were also measured for 10 healthy volunteers and subsequently analyzed. In the prototype, almost all the values of the parameters showed no significant variety in individuals at the different cadences. The situation was the same with the healthy volunteers. However, the values of the parameter for the conventional knee varied significantly with the individual at the different cadences. The prototype may be of practical use, contributing to a stable walk even at different cadences.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation, Sapporo Medical University Hospital, Minami-1 Nishi-16, Sapporo, Japan 0608543. yokogu@sapmed.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazutoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokogushi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Narita
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Uchiyama
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: Toshiya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nosaka
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamakoshi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000671:Amputation, Surgical / Q000379:methods; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005269:Femur / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011474:Prosthesis Design