Cost Effective System for Determining the Weight Distribution Correlated with the Stepping Phase for Lower Limb Prosthesis

Abstract

For people with amputated limbs, it is necessary to make high-performance prostheses that reproduce, as accurately as possible, the functions of the amputated limb. In order to achieve them, a preliminary study of the limbs from a kinematic and dynamic point of view is necessary. In this paper, an acquisition system for the kinematic and dynamic parameters of the legs is proposed. It consists of a sensory system attached to the legs and an acquisition unit built around a microcontroller. The sensory system has two subcomponents. A sensory system for determining the distribution of body weight on the sole, made of resistive pressure sensors. A second sensory system determines the kinematics and dynamics of the legs while walking, based on a data fusion between gyroscopic and accelerometer sensors. The acquired data is transmitted in real-time, via wi-fi, to a computer system for interpretation. After processing and interpreting the data using standard data sets for comparison, the position of the legs, the type of gait, and the phase of movement can be determined. Constructive, the system is configurable and can be adapted to any person, male or female, regardless of shoe size.