Relationships Between Transfemoral Socket Interface Pressure and Hip Moment of Residual Limb With a 4-Bar Pneumatic Knee During Stance Phase of Gait

For transfemoral amputees, the biomechanical interaction between the stump and the prosthetic socket during stance phase of gait is critically important to achieve normal-like ambulation. It is widely accepted that abnormal socket interface pressure distribution and temporal behavior cause pathology in the stump directly affecting gait of amputees. Therefore, many investigators have studied static and dynamic socket pressure behaviors. The results of the investigations suggested that the pressure changes during gait of transfemoral amputees are closely related to the prosthetic alignment, the socket shape, the stump size, and the residual muscle activity [1,2]. In addition, the temporal changes of hip moment during ambulation may affect the socket pressure distributions of transfemoral amputees [3,4]. However, relationships between the hip moment and the socket pressure have not been well understood. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between the hip moment and the socket pressure during amputee gait with transfemoral prostheses.