Sehoon Park

Significant advances have been made in prostheses with the aim of enhancing the quality of life for transfemoral amputees. While commercially available transfemoral prostheses mainly focus on the developing passive prostheses that act only as dampers, academic research is centered round powered prostheses that can provide net-positive knee torque. Although recent active-powered prostheses have made excellent progress in terms of weight and battery life, it remains unclear if these prostheses can be effectively used in everyday life. This study presents a rotary hybrid prosthesis based on the combination of a multifunctional rotary hydraulic cylinder that is designed to operate as a brake, clutch, and damper with a 100 W active motor system. This prosthesis enables long-term level ground walking while supplying active power as needed. The passive and active components of this hybrid prosthesis are designed such that they can be decoupled when operated independently, allowing for quick switching between passive and active modes in 50–100 ms. The study outlines the aims and procedures for the design of rotary hybrid prostheses, as well as the feasibility tests for each module and the amputee’s clinical test on the developed knee prosthesis.

Lower limb amputees (LLAs) have a high incidence of low back pain (LBP), and identifying the potential risk factors in this group is key for LBP prevention. This study analyzed the intramuscular properties of the resting lumbar muscle in thirteen unilateral LLAs and age-matched controls to predict the onset of LBP. To measure the lumbar intramuscular properties, resting erector spinae muscles located in the upper and lower lumbar regions were examined using a handheld myotonometer. The dynamic stiffness, oscillation frequency, and logarithmic decrement were measured. In our results, the stiffness and frequency of the upper lumbar region were greater in the amputee group than in the control, whereas the decrement did not differ between the two groups. Additionally, the measured values in the lower lumbar region showed no significant difference. Within each group, all three factors increased at the upper lumbar region. In the LLAs, the frequency and stiffness values of the upper lumbar on the non-amputated side were significantly higher than those on the amputated side. These results indicate that the upper lumbar muscles of the amputees were less flexible than that of the control. This study can help in providing therapeutic strategies treating LBP in amputees.