Design analysis of the four-bar Jaipur-Stanford prosthetic knee for Developing countries

Amputees in developing countries face a challenging prospect. Without an adequate prosthesis, they face a lifetime of limited mobility and dependence. Unfortunately, as millions fall below the poverty line and as such do not have access to proper medical and prosthesis care, many must resign themselves to such a lifestyle. Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) is attempting to change this. BMVSS is the world's leading prosthetics and mobility provider, serving over 20,000 new individuals per year - all free of charge - in 27 countries. Through a partnership with a Stanford design course, the Jaipur-Stanford Knee, a novel prosthetic knee incorporating a four-bar design, was born. This knee design has become widely popular amongst amputees and was named one of the top 50 best inventions in 2009 by Time Magazine. However, despite the popularity and widespread media coverage of the knee's development, there currently exists no available technical literature on the design. This research provides a kinematic model of this knee to compare to the dynamics of a natural gait along with a materials analysis to offer insight into design and manufacture improvements in future design iterations and concepts.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Ceri, Casandra N

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Amos G Winter.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/83688

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/83688