Rethinking Some Aspects of Powered Knee Prostheses for Human-Like Walking

Lower limb prostheses have traditionally been energetically passive, and therefore have been functionally deficient relative to the healthy limb, which can both generate and dissipate power. Over the past 15 years or so, researchers have been exploring the development of powered prostheses, which employ a robotics approach to the design and control of lower limb prostheses. Adding power in this manner, particularly in a knee prosthesis, expands the range of knee behaviors into powered regions of the power plane, but also compromises the range of behaviors in passive regions of the power plane which are essential to human walking. This talk makes a case for the importance of retaining the very low-output-impedance behaviors in the passive regions of the power plane, and suggests approaches for supplementing passive functionality with power, without compromising or supplanting the low-impedance passive behaviors that are an essential aspect of human movement.

Horea Ilies headshotMichael Goldfarb, Vanderbilt University

Dr. Goldfarb is the H. Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, with secondary appointments as a professor in Electrical Engineering and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Goldfarb has authored over 250 publications and been awarded over 50 US patents on topics related to wearable robotics. Among his papers are ones awarded best-paper awards in 1997, 1998, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2020, and 2022 and others that were finalists for best paper awards in 2015, 2017, 2020, and 2024. Research interests include the development of robotic limbs for upper and lower extremity amputees, and the development of exoskeletons for individuals with spinal cord injury and stroke, including the development of a lower limb exoskeleton now sold as the Indego exoskeleton. Dr. Goldfarb was inducted into the US National Academy of Inventors in 2020.