Design and Evaluation of a Knee-Extension-Assist
dc.contributor.author | Spring, Alexander | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2011-04-27T15:27:38Z | |
dc.date.available | 2011-04-27T15:27:38Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2011-04-27T15:27:38Z | |
dc.date.submitted | 2011 | |
dc.description.abstract | Quadriceps muscle weakness is a condition that can result from a wide variety of causes, from diseases like polio and multiple sclerosis to injuries of the head and spine. Individuals with weakened quadriceps often have difficulty supplying the knee-extension moments required during common mobility tasks. Existing powered orthoses that provide an assistive knee-extension moment are large and heavy, with power supplies that generally last less than two hours. A new device that provides a knee-extension-assist moment was designed to aid an individual with quadriceps muscle weakness to stand up from a seated position, sit from a standing position, and walk up and down an inclined surface. The knee-extension-assist (KEA) was designed as a modular component to be incorporated into existing knee-ankle-foot-orthoses (KAFO). The KEA consists of three springs that are compressed, as the knee is flexed under bodyweight, by cables that wrap around a sheave at the knee. The KEA returns the stored energy from knee flexion as an extension moment during knee extension. During swing or other non-weight bearing activities, the device is disengaged from the KAFO by decoupling the sheave from the KAFO knee joint, allowing free knee joint motion. A prototype was built and mechanically tested to determine KEA behaviour during loading and extension and to ensure proper KEA function. For biomechanical evaluation, able-bodied subjects used the prototype KEA while performing sit-to-stand, stand-to-sit, ramp ascent, and ramp descent tasks. The KEA facilitated sitting and standing, providing an average of 53 % of the required extension moment for the two participants, which allowed one participant to reduce quadriceps usage by 38 % and the other to perform sit-to-stand in a slower and more controlled manner that was not possible without the KEA. KEA use during ramp gait caused an overall increase in quadriceps activation by 76 %, on average, with use. Future efforts will be made to modify the design to improve functionality, especially for ramp gait, and to reduce device size and weight. | en |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10012/5870 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en |
dc.pending | false | en |
dc.publisher | University of Waterloo | en |
dc.subject | extension-assist | en |
dc.subject | kafo | en |
dc.subject | knee | en |
dc.subject | assistive device | en |
dc.subject.program | System Design Engineering | en |
dc.title | Design and Evaluation of a Knee-Extension-Assist | en |
dc.type | Master Thesis | en |
uws-etd.degree | Master of Applied Science | en |
uws-etd.degree.department | Systems Design Engineering | en |
uws.peerReviewStatus | Unreviewed | en |
uws.scholarLevel | Graduate | en |
uws.typeOfResource | Text | en |