Number Synthesis of New Prosthetic Knee Mechanisms

Abstract

Lower limb prostheses are used to replace amputated limbs promoting gait and controlled movements. Being a complex joint, human knee movements are difficult to reproduce. The majority of knee mechanisms on the market are designed with four-bar mechanisms and a few still see the knee joint as a single rotation joint. This paper presents the number synthesis of mechanisms capable of reproducing knee movements. To do so, new kinematic chains for prosthetic knee mechanisms are explored. The number synthesis results on three loops kinematic chains capable of generating similar movements to human knee, enabling simultaneous rotation and translation movements and keeping only one degree of freedom.