Wearable sensor system for calculating deflection of a running-specific prosthesis - a feasibility study

Abstract

Running-specific prosthesis (RSP) have been around for over 20 years and have had a huge impact on the capabilities of para athletics. Measuring the performance of the RSP and the amputee in the real-world has not been performed extensively. This paper describes a system using a camera and an inertial measurement unit that, when attached to a RSP, estimates the deflection of the running blade and its ground reaction force (GRF). The independent system was attached to the RSP of one amputee during jumping tests and the results from the system were verified with a force plate and a high speed camera at the side. Although the performance of the system can still be optimized, the system shows great potential to become a training tool to monitor RSP. The deflection was calculated with a mean error (SD) of 1.2mm (0.7 mm) and the GRF with 15N (263 N). The system is small-sized, light-weight, cheap and fully adaptable to an amputee's prosthetic setup with little adjustments.