Student Name: ANJANA DEVI A S
Guide Name: Ms. Aswathy S R, Assistant Professor, ECE, GEC Barton Hill & Mr. Subhash N.N, Scientist, SCTIMST
Project Area: BIOMEDICAL
Year: 2020 , Duration: 1
Knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFOs) are full leg braces for individuals with knee extensor weakness, designed to support the person during weight bearing activities by preventing knee flexion. KAFOs typically result in an unnatural gait pattern and are primarily used for level ground walking.
This study is attempted to design and develop a knee joint for bio-inspired stance control device for (1) assist the patients with knee extensor weakness (2) unnatural gait pattern reduction. This novel intelligent variable resistance orthotic knee joint was designed with sensor fusion and was evaluated to address these limitations. Moreover, the design is a bio-inspired knee joint mechanism which helps in almost mimicking the natural gait pattern. Mechanical and biomechanical testing will analyse the design, whether it resisted knee motion during stance phase, released the knee joint without restricting the knee’s range of movement, and provided flexion resistance during walking. For the analysis purpose primarily, cost effective and readily available components such as android phones and MatLab Simulink were integrated. Then, developed a test bench knee joint locking mechanism from the primary analysis. Motion sensors were used to track the required gait actions which helped the actuator to act upon creating and supporting a natural gait pattern driven by the path in the locking system. The results from the test bench system were promising and were close to the reference values from gait cycle.
Keywords: knee angle foot orthosis; gait pattern; knee flexion; knee extension; stance and swing phase; sensor fusion
