Effect of an Intelligent Prosthesis (IP) on the Walking Ability of Young Transfemoral Amputees
By Chin, T.; Sawamura, S.; Shiba, R.; Oyabu, H.; Nagakura, Y.; Takase, I.; Machida, K.; Nakagawa, A.; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vol. 82, No. 6, pp. 447-451Publication Date: June 2003
Study compares energy expenditure and walking speeds between people who are able-bodied and people who use Intelligent Prostheses (IP) to demonstrate the effect of IP on the walking ability of young people with lower-extremity amputations. Six men and two women between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six with unilateral transfemoral amputations participated in the study. None of the participants had been fitted with a prosthesis prior to the study. The participants’ measurements of energy expenditure were conducted using a portable telemetric system called a K4 system. The system measured oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide production, heart rate, and minute ventilation. The mean value of the last two minutes of a fifteen-minute test walk was taken as the measurement value. Data from the participants were compared with data from a control group of people without amputations. On average, the participants who used IP experienced an oxygen uptake that was higher than that of the control group.
Published by: W.B. Saunders Company, a division of Elsevier Health Sciences (Website:http://us.elsevierhealth.com)
American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Web Site: http://www.aapmr.org/ )
American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.acrm.org )
