Dear Readers,
Welcome to the wonderful world of prostheses. My name is Krishna Patel and I am a senior at Basis Flagstaff. For my senior research project, I will be working with Dr. Nishikawa at NAU. Have you ever wondered what it takes to power a powered foot-prosthesis? Or maybe you didn’t know it needed power at all. Well I will get those answers to you during my project.
During my internship at NAU I will evaluate a powered ankle-foot prosthesis that allows a user to move over variable terrain. Dr. Kiisa Nishikawa’s lab received a new prosthetic to study around early November. Her laboratory has developed new software for this device that should improve walking gait. The question is: Does this new software allow a user to move over variable terrain (stair,uneven terrain,ramps) as if it as intact limb?
I plan on conducting research in a lab which aims to make walking with prosthetics easier and more comfortable. I will work with the lab team and aid in the collection of data and will help the team analyze the information that has been collected. The lab collects data from subjects with lower-limb amputations and analyzes the torques given off by the various muscles in the ankle in order to walk comfortably, with a prosthetic, on various terrains at various speeds. Since this process can been rather tedious, the lab team meets once a week to discuss data that has been gathered throughout the past week and discusses the data with Dr. Nishikawa and Dr. Tester, another NAU professor who is working with the lab. Dr Nishikawa and Dr. Tester will advise the group in any ways that can make the results more accurate and give them ideas that can make the process more efficient. My role is to attend these weekly meetings so that I can catch up on the things that I have missed, as I can’t always be with the lab when new data is collected, and to aid the different lab members in whatever they may be working on that week.
I look forward to learning more about physiology and how these magnificent devices operate. Stay tuned, for there is exciting new information coming soon. :)
Until next time,
Krishna Patel
Hi Krishna, your project sounds fantastic! How is software integrated into your lab's prosthetic leg, and what functions does it serve, other than data collection?
ReplyDeleteHi Liam. Software allows the lab technicians to know how much torque is given off by the device. By collecting data from a human subject, the lab can then configure how much torque is needed to walk at various speeds on various terrains. They then send that information to the software in the device which exerts the perfect amount of energy to allow the person to walk more comfortably.
ReplyDeleteHey Krishna!! I'm finally here! You're project sounds fabulous and full of physics! (hear that alliteration?) Speaking of physics, does your lab group have to do any calculations using the equations and concepts you've learned in physics? You talked about torque, but what else? :D
ReplyDeleteThe lab mainly looks at torque and the force given off by the ankle prosthetic. The lab runs simulations of what they think might work best and then calculate what forces and torques should be sent to the motor in the prosthetic.
ReplyDeleteHi Krishna,
ReplyDeleteNice project! About how many subjects will this study look at?
As of now we are working with 4 subjects.
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