Optimization of spring-loaded crutches via boundary value problem.
The objective of the work is to optimize the design of spring-loaded crutches by choosing appropriate spring stiffness based on their dynamic characteristics. It was shown in the literature that ambulation with spring-loaded crutches reduces the initial impulse yielded by ambulation with standard crutches and provides a propulsion mechanism. This research not only provides a genre of the spring-loaded crutches via compliance, but also proposes an approach to optimize the stiffness of the helical spring through studying the dynamics of crutch stance. The method is developed using a boundary value problem and its solution method and is studied numerically. Experiments were carried out on four subjects in a biomechanics laboratory. It suggests that the optimized spring-loaded crutches guarantee the propulsion mechanism at the right time and right position during dynamical ambulation.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1020, New Zealand. g.liu@auckland.ac.nz
Guangyu
G
Liu
Sheng-Quan
SQ
ShaneXie
Yanxin
Y
Zhang
D003198:Computer Simulation; D003446:Crutches; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005542:Forearm / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*