Tesi etd-01232025-161458
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Tipo di tesi
Dottorato
Autore
MAZZARINI, ALESSANDRO
URN
etd-01232025-161458
Titolo
Development and experimental verification of robotic ankle-Foot prosthetic technologies to improve transtibial amputees gait
Settore scientifico disciplinare
ING-IND/34
Corso di studi
Istituto di Biorobotica - PHD IN BIOROBOTICA
Commissione
Presidente Prof. FORMICA, DOMENICO
Membro Prof. VITIELLO, NICOLA
Membro Prof.ssa CRISTINA PIAZZA
relatore Prof.ssa CREA, SIMONA
Membro Prof. TRIGILI, EMILIO
Membro Prof. VITIELLO, NICOLA
Membro Prof.ssa CRISTINA PIAZZA
relatore Prof.ssa CREA, SIMONA
Membro Prof. TRIGILI, EMILIO
Parole chiave
- Wearable robotics
- lower-limb prostheses
Data inizio appello
04/07/2025;
Disponibilità
parziale
Riassunto analitico
Lower‐limb amputation affects millions of individuals worldwide, posing challenges in terms of mobility, independence, and overall quality of life. Traditional passive prostheses, while restoring basic ambulation, often fail to replicate the biomechanics of a natural limb, resulting in increased energy expenditure, gait asymmetry, and long‐term musculoskeletal complications. In this context, robotic prostheses have emerged as a promising alternative, offering the potential to restore a more natural gait and reduce the metabolic cost experienced by transtibial amputees through advanced actuation, adaptive control, and integrated sensory systems.
This thesis addresses the need for advanced lower‐limb prosthetic systems to restore more natural gait in transtibial amputees. The research advances the state of the art in robotic lower‐limb prostheses by tackling three key open challenges: real-time gait monitoring, reduction of power requirements, and achieving biomimetic control. Each challenge is addressed through the development and testing of a dedicated research prototype.
The challenge of real-time gait monitoring is addressed through the development and subject testing of a low-cost, highly integrable sensory system: the Sensorized Prosthetic Foot (SPF). The system, based on a matrix of optoelectronic pressure transducers embedded within a commercial Energy Storage and Return (ESAR) foot, enables detection of gait events and estimation of key biomechanical variables. Moreover, the thesis presents the development and verification of a second-generation SPF designed to overcome the limitations of the initial design. By incorporating a Gaussian Process Regression model to enhance estimation of the vertical Ground Reaction Force (vGRF), the second-generation SPF demonstrates significantly improved performance with respect to the first-generation, highlighting its potential for real-time gait monitoring and prosthetic control applications.
The challenge of reducing power requirements is addressed through the development and evaluation of the Wearable Robotics Lab TransTibial Prosthesis (WRL TTP), a low-power semi‐active device designed to augment push‐off during walking by incorporating a parallel elastic actuator to enhance the energy-storage capability of a commercial ESAR foot. The mechatronic concept of the WRL TTP was first validated with two transtibial amputees, followed by a clinical assessment involving five transtibial amputees. The WRL TTP demonstrated a promising reduction in walking effort during treadmill walking, while its added weight did not negatively impact walking patterns.
The challenge of achieving biomimetic control is addressed through the development of a fully powered ankle–foot prosthesis and its control architecture. Specifically, a fully powered ankle–foot prosthesis featuring a torsional Series Elastic Actuator combined with Unidirectional Parallel Elasticity (UP-SEA ankle) is presented. The architecture and components were selected through dynamic modeling, and a Variable Impedance Control strategy was implemented to replicate the natural torque-angle profiles of a healthy ankle. Testing with two transtibial amputees demonstrated that the prosthesis could reproduce kinematic and kinetic profiles closely matching physiological ones, yielding improvements in clinically relevant metrics compared to classical control strategies.
Overall, the findings of this research demonstrate that the proposed prototypes enable real-time gait monitoring and improve gait performance in transtibial amputees, while achieving either reduced power requirements or biomimetic control. This research lays the ground for future studies focused on design optimization, refined control strategies, and extended clinical validations, ultimately aiming to enhance mobility and quality of life for lower-limb amputees.
This thesis addresses the need for advanced lower‐limb prosthetic systems to restore more natural gait in transtibial amputees. The research advances the state of the art in robotic lower‐limb prostheses by tackling three key open challenges: real-time gait monitoring, reduction of power requirements, and achieving biomimetic control. Each challenge is addressed through the development and testing of a dedicated research prototype.
The challenge of real-time gait monitoring is addressed through the development and subject testing of a low-cost, highly integrable sensory system: the Sensorized Prosthetic Foot (SPF). The system, based on a matrix of optoelectronic pressure transducers embedded within a commercial Energy Storage and Return (ESAR) foot, enables detection of gait events and estimation of key biomechanical variables. Moreover, the thesis presents the development and verification of a second-generation SPF designed to overcome the limitations of the initial design. By incorporating a Gaussian Process Regression model to enhance estimation of the vertical Ground Reaction Force (vGRF), the second-generation SPF demonstrates significantly improved performance with respect to the first-generation, highlighting its potential for real-time gait monitoring and prosthetic control applications.
The challenge of reducing power requirements is addressed through the development and evaluation of the Wearable Robotics Lab TransTibial Prosthesis (WRL TTP), a low-power semi‐active device designed to augment push‐off during walking by incorporating a parallel elastic actuator to enhance the energy-storage capability of a commercial ESAR foot. The mechatronic concept of the WRL TTP was first validated with two transtibial amputees, followed by a clinical assessment involving five transtibial amputees. The WRL TTP demonstrated a promising reduction in walking effort during treadmill walking, while its added weight did not negatively impact walking patterns.
The challenge of achieving biomimetic control is addressed through the development of a fully powered ankle–foot prosthesis and its control architecture. Specifically, a fully powered ankle–foot prosthesis featuring a torsional Series Elastic Actuator combined with Unidirectional Parallel Elasticity (UP-SEA ankle) is presented. The architecture and components were selected through dynamic modeling, and a Variable Impedance Control strategy was implemented to replicate the natural torque-angle profiles of a healthy ankle. Testing with two transtibial amputees demonstrated that the prosthesis could reproduce kinematic and kinetic profiles closely matching physiological ones, yielding improvements in clinically relevant metrics compared to classical control strategies.
Overall, the findings of this research demonstrate that the proposed prototypes enable real-time gait monitoring and improve gait performance in transtibial amputees, while achieving either reduced power requirements or biomimetic control. This research lays the ground for future studies focused on design optimization, refined control strategies, and extended clinical validations, ultimately aiming to enhance mobility and quality of life for lower-limb amputees.
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