A pilot study to test the influence of specific prosthetic features in preventing trans-tibial amputees from walking like able-bodied subjects

The purpose of this pilot investigation was to develop a method to test the influence of specific prosthetic features in preventing trans-tibial amputees from walking like able-bodied subjects. An able-bodied subject was fitted with a patellar-tendon-bearing orthosis incorporating several features of an amputee's prosthesis. Kinetic, kinematic and metabolic data were collected as features were systematically removed from the orthosis. While wearing the orthosis the gait of the able-bodied subject closely simulated trans-tibial amputee gait kinematically, kinetically and metabolically. Although it was obvious that the various prosthetic features influenced the kinetics and kinematics of gait, they were difficult to quantify with only a single subject. However, the two features which appeared to have the largest influence in preventing trans-tibial amputees from walking like able-bodied subjects were patellar tendon loading and a solid ankle.