Rehabilitation evaluation of the newly developed polymeric based passive polycentric knee joint

Abstract

Objective: The lower limb amputation is one of the major concerns for the amputee’s daily life and the trans-femoral (TF) amputation is being paid a lot of attention because of its functional requirement in flexion-extension motion. Though significant progress has been made for the development of high end prosthetic knee joint, the affordability of the same is still a great concern. Thus, a passive polycentric knee joint was developed and the health related quality of life (HRQL) before and after the fixation of the prosthesis, and performance of the same were studied.

Design: After 6 months of fixation, the HRQL and performance of the prosthetic device were evaluated.

Results: The HRQL after the fixation was found to be increased, where the improvement on the physical and mental score was found to be 49 and 46%, respectively, in comparison with pre-fixation stage. The global score (G) for the prosthetic function was found to be 63, which confirmed the increased performance of the prosthesis.

Conclusions: The improved HRQL and G of prosthetic performance confirmed the enhanced performance of the prosthesis. It is concluded that the developed passive polycentric knee joint could be explored in large scale for the TF amputees.

Implications for rehabilitation

• The above knee (AK) amputation is a surgical interference that severs the thigh segment between the knee and hip joints.

• The above knee prosthesis consists of a socket, knee joint, pylon and foot.

• The artificial prosthetic knee joint imitates the functions of human knee to achieve the flexion-extension motion of the above knee amputee.

• The satisfaction of the amputees with the usage of the existing artificial prosthetic knee joint is still a concern. Hence, a passive prosthetic knee joint was developed and its effect on the quality of life of trans-femoral amputee was evaluated using health related quality of life (HRQL) before and after the fixation of the prosthesis

• The HRQL after the fixation was found to be increased in comparison with pre-fixation stage.

• The global score for the prosthetic function was also found to be increased which confirmed the increased performance of the prosthesis.

• It is anticipated that the developed knee joint is expected to make huge impact due to its function, performance and affordability.

Keywords:

• Trans femoral amputees
• assistive devices
• rehabilitation
• sf-36
• questionnaire

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Mr. David from L.G.D Hi-tech Orthotic and Prosthetic Centre, Kanyakumari for his continuous support in the feedback collection. The support extended by all the amputees involved in this study is also highly acknowledged.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

Funding support given by Department of Biotechnology, India through a sponsored project BT/233/NE/TBP/2011 is acknowledged. Testing facilities provided by Ministry of Steel, India, through a sponsored project 11(20)/SDF/2010-TW is also acknowledged.