' Executive Director, Committee on Prosthetics Research and Development, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Ave., N. W., Washington, D.C. 20418. The concept of constructing a belowknee prosthesis with side joints and a thigh lacer was set forth by the Dutch surgeon Verduin in 1696 (Fig. 1) and followed universally until the advent of the patellar-tendon-bearing prosthesis in the late ...

The problems encountered in fitting and using the permanent below-knee prosthesis in developing countries are the high price of the prosthesis, inadequate fitting and lack of proper rehabilitation. In Turkey, the preferred treatment of the stump post-operatively is by the soft dressing method with bandaging for maturation and shrinkage. Generally, the application of the permanent prosthesis is ...

This paper reports on the design of a biorobotic actuator intended for use in a powered, below-knee prosthesis. Design requirements for the artificial muscle and tendon are based on the properties of the natural limb. As biological properties often exhibit significant variability, data from a variety of vertebrate species are extracted from published reports in the biological literature and use...

We compared the early results of mobile-bearing knee prosthesis with fixed-bearing knee prosthesis in 16 patients who had one-stage, sequential, bilateral replacements. In each patient, a Low Contact Stress (LCS, Depuy) rotating-platform prosthesis was inserted in one side, and an Anatomic Modular Knee (AMK, Depuy) posterior-stabilised prosthesis was inserted in the other side. The same surgica...

The length of the lower limb prosthesis was compared with the length of the contralateral lower extremity in 113 Finnish war-disabled amputees by a radiological weight bearing method developed by the author. Considering a shortening of 10 mm for above-knee prostheses and of 5 mm for below-knee prostheses as tolerance limits, the length of the prosthesis was acceptable only in 17 cases (15% of t...

Seven different suspension systems for below-knee prostheses were tested on 20 adult, unilateral amputees. All subjects walked with a prosthesis. Gait was evaluated with regard to longitudinal and vertical accelerations of the body, forward velocity, axial (piston) movement of amputated limb in the socket, and knee movement. Harmonic analyses of variable waveforms provided the primary method to...

Tibial bone defect is a critical problem for revision knee arthroplasty. Instead of using metallic spacer or cement, biodegradable scaffolds could be an alternative solution. A numerical model of a revision knee arthroplasty was thus developed to estimate the mechanical resistance of the scaffold in this demanding situation. The tibia, scaffold, and prosthesis were represented by simplified par...

We report a variant of tibial hemimelia in a six-year-old boy that did not comply with recognised classification systems. The femur and knee were normal, but the fibula was displaced proximally and there was severe diastasis of the proximal and distal tibiofibular joints to the extent that a grossly deformed foot articulated with the fibula and there was separate soft-tissue cover for the dista...

Between 1999 and 2001, 35 consecutive patients with diabetes (mean age, 59.4 years) were treated prospectively with a modified skew-flap below-knee amputation. The technique, results, and follow-up are described. By a mean follow-up of 3.5 years, 3 patients required below-knee amputation of the opposite extremity, 4 expired, and 28 were ambulating with a below-knee prosthesis. The modification ...

Maximum weight bearing observed, using a static weighing scale, in above-knee amputees wearing an airsplint, with a foot, was 10 kg and in below-knee amputees 11 kg with inflation pressures of 40 mmHg. While airsplints with a foot permitted greater weight bearing before deformation occurred, the increase is judged to be of little clinical advantage. Use of an airsplint without a foot would be m...