ReviewCarbon fibre prostheses and running in amputees: A review
Section snippets
The development of carbon fibre prostheses
After the invention of the SACH foot (Ohio Willow Wood, Ohio, USA) in the late 1950s, the design and material did not change much until a major development in the early 1980s. Two pieces of carbon fibre, a lightweight, flexible and strong material more commonly used in aeronautics at the time, were used to build a foot that more easily enabled sports participation (Fig. 1). Each time body weight moves over this flexible foot, it compresses and energy is stored. As body weight shifts off the
Power output and energy return
There are different ways of calculating mechanical energy, so one has to be careful when comparing results. Energy is the capacity to do work and these terms are often used interchangeably. If a carbon fibre foot is modeled as a simple spring, work done to compress the spring can be calculated by the integration of a force–displacement curve [2] (Fig. 3). No spring is 100% efficient as a result of friction and energy loss such as heat and noise; thus there will be a difference in the
Conclusions
What is known about the effect of carbon fibre prostheses on amputee running is limited by the number of studies, subjects and chosen running speeds. Current running prostheses do not match the human foot in terms of energy efficiency, and due to having to reduce loading on their residual limb, amputees cannot compensate enough at the hip to match the total energy generated in a human limb. Carbon fibre prostheses, although considerably lighter than a human limb, allow amputees to reach the
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2022, Materials Today: ProceedingsWalking characteristics of runners with a transfemoral or knee-disarticulation prosthesis
2020, Clinical BiomechanicsCitation Excerpt :Running with a transfemoral prosthesis generally requires a tremendous personal effort and training in order to develop the necessary strength in both the amputated and intact lower limbs. Fortunately, the recent technological advances in prosthetic components have paved the way for more individuals with a transfemoral amputation to participate and engage themselves in running activity (Nolan, 2008). Walking characteristics have been widely analyzed in general population of individuals with transfemoral amputation.