Lower-Limb Prosthetic Control and Optimization

• Project Goals

  To develop a wearable body area sensor network system and computational algorithms for real-time measurement of the user’s physical load and mental effort to support personalized prosthesis optimization for the goal of maximally reducing the user’s energy expenditure during level walking

  To develop volitional prosthesis control technology for comfortable and effortless user control of the prosthesis for adaptation to altered situations and environments

• Broader Impact

  Prosthetic technology for improving amputees’ wellbeing: There are more than one million people with lower-limb amputations in the US including a large number of warfighters who lost their limbs in military missions. The goal for these amputees is to use prosthetic devices as their biological ones such that they can move with a natural gait. The prosthesis optimization and the volition recognition technology with the capability of detecting the users’ volition directly from the brain are essential for achieving this overall goal in prosthetics users. The designed optimization and user control of the prosthesis will greatly improve the amputees’ well-being and their quality of life. Meanwhile, this can mitigate the risk of secondary damage to the amputee’s body due to the increased energy expenditure and asymmetric joint loading.