Design and testing of an ankle-foot prosthesis and a hip exoskeleton to improve balance-related outcomes and prevent falls
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Falling is a serious issue that affects millions of people, including people with lower limb amputation and older adults. Falls can lead to serious injury or death, and even the fear of falling results in restrictions on mobility and reductions in quality of life. Assistive devices could address this need by augmenting the three primary strategies humans use to maintain balance: applying ankle torque to modulate center of pressure and pushoff work, using hip torque to change center of mass position and velocity, and placing the foot to alter base of support. In my doctoral research, I have designed and tested devices intended to assist people with these three balance strategies. First, I designed a prosthetic foot with actuation in the frontal and sagittal planes, which is capable of modulating the center of pressure between the foot and the ground. I then used this foot to test the biomechanical effects of a prosthesis controller designed to mitigate the effects of uneven terrain. Finally, I designed a bilateral hip exoskeleton with actuation in the frontal and sagittal planes, which can be used to modulate hip torques and assist with foot placement. These projects have led to a better understanding of the relative efficacy of different balance enhancement techniques and have yielded new experimental tools for future studies of fall prevention.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2021; ©2021 |
| Publication date | 2021; 2021 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Chiu, Vincent Louie |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Collins, Steve (Steven Hartley) |
| Thesis advisor | Collins, Steve (Steven Hartley) |
| Thesis advisor | Cutkosky, Mark R |
| Thesis advisor | Okamura, Allison |
| Degree committee member | Cutkosky, Mark R |
| Degree committee member | Okamura, Allison |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Mechanical Engineering |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Vincent Louie Chiu. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2021. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/xm602yw0635 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2021 by Vincent Louie Chiu
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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