Whole-body angular momentum during sloped walking using passive and powered lower-limb prostheses

Nathaniel T Pickle; Jason M Wilken; Jennifer M Aldridge Whitehead; Anne K Silverman

doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2016.09.010

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Whole-body angular momentum during sloped walking using passive and powered lower-limb prostheses

Journal article

Open access

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Whole-body angular momentum during sloped walking using passive and powered lower-limb prostheses

Nathaniel T Pickle, Jason M Wilken, Jennifer M Aldridge Whitehead and Anne K Silverman

Journal of biomechanics, Vol.49(14), pp.3397-3406

10/03/2016

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2016.09.010

PMCID: PMC5139624

PMID: 27670646

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/5139624View

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Abstract

Sloped walking requires altered strategies for maintaining dynamic balance relative to level-ground walking, as evidenced by changes in sagittal-plane whole-body angular momentum (H) in able-bodied individuals. The ankle plantarflexor muscles are critical for regulating H, and functional loss of these muscles from transtibial amputation affects this regulation. However, it is unclear if a powered prosthesis, which more closely emulates intact ankle function than a passive energy-storage-and-return prosthesis, affects H differently during sloped walking. Therefore, our purpose was to investigate H in individuals with unilateral transtibial amputation when using powered and passive prostheses. Overall, the range of H was greater in people with a transtibial amputation relative to able-bodied individuals. On a -10° decline, individuals with amputation did not decrease H as much as able-bodied individuals, and had reduced prosthetic limb braking ground reaction forces and knee power absorption. On a +10° incline, individuals with amputation had a greater relative increase of H than able-bodied individuals, a more anterior placement of the prosthetic foot, and higher peak hip power generation. The powered prosthesis condition resulted in a smaller range of H during prosthetic stance relative to the passive condition, although it was still larger than able-bodied individuals. Our results suggest that prosthetic ankle power generation may help regulate dynamic balance during prosthetic stance, but alone is not sufficient for restoring H to that of able-bodied individuals on slopes. Contributions of knee extensor muscles and the biarticular gastrocnemius in regulating H on slopes should be further investigated.

Knee - physiology

Humans

Male

Artificial Limbs

Gait - physiology

Ankle - physiology

Walking - physiology

Biomechanical Phenomena

Amputation

Range of Motion, Articular

Adult

Female

Mechanical Phenomena

Details

Title: Subtitle: Whole-body angular momentum during sloped walking using passive and powered lower-limb prostheses
Creators: Nathaniel T Pickle - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Jason M Wilken - Center for the Intrepid, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Brooke Army Medical Center, JBSA Ft. Sam Houston, TX 78234, USA
Jennifer M Aldridge Whitehead - Center for the Intrepid, Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Brooke Army Medical Center, JBSA Ft. Sam Houston, TX 78234, USA
Anne K Silverman - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA. Electronic address: asilverm@mines.edu
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of biomechanics, Vol.49(14), pp.3397-3406
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2016.09.010
PMID: 27670646
PMCID: PMC5139624
NLM abbreviation: J Biomech
ISSN: 0021-9290
eISSN: 1873-2380
Publisher: United States
Grant note: R03 HD075946 / NICHD NIH HHS
Language: English
Date published: 10/03/2016
Academic Unit: Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science
Record Identifier: 9984047977902771

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