A Mechanical Model of the Human Ankle in the Transverse Plane During Straight Walking: Implications for Prosthetic Design

In order to protect sensitive residual limb soft tissues, lower limb prostheses need to control torsional loads during gait. To assist with the design of a torsional prosthesis, this paper used simple mechanical elements to model the behavior of the human ankle in the transverse plane during straight walking. Motion capture data were collected from ten able-bodied subjects walking straight ahead at self-selected walking speeds. Gait cycle data were separated into four distinct states, and passive torsional springs and dampers were chosen to model the behavior in each state. Since prosthetic design is facilitated by simplicity, it was desirable to investigate if elastic behavior could account for the physiological ankle moment and include viscous behavior only if necessary to account for the inadequacies of the spring model. In all four states, a springlike behavior was able to account for most of the physiological ankle moments, rendering the use of a damper unnecessary. In State 1, a quadratic torsional spring was chosen to model the behavior, while linear torsional springs were chosen for States 2–4. A prosthetic system that actively changes stiffness could be able to replicate the physiological behavior of the human ankle in the transverse plane. The results of this study will contribute to the mechanical design and control of a biomimetic torsional prosthesis for lower limb amputees.