A voluntary closing and locking prosthetic terminal device (1) having complex internal mechanisms configured into interchangeable cartridges (10) that provide end users with the capability of servicing the prosthetic on their own.

A traction system for an ambulatory support such as a prosthetic foot blade or a crutch includes a sole plate, a latch assembly, and a strap. The sole plate is couplable to a distal end of the ambulatory support to extend under a bottom side of the ambulatory support and a latch assembly. The latch assembly includes a front catch and a rear catch both fixable at a top side of the ambulatory support with the front catch nearer to the distal end of the ambulatory support than the rear catch, and a lever having a front end and a rear end, the front end releasably latchable to the front catch and the rear end releasably latchable to the rear catch when the lever is pivoted about the latched front end. The strap is secured to the lever and to the sole plate.

Prosthesis devices can include sockets having adjustable features. In one example, a socket includes one or more panels that can move outwardly or inwardly relative to a receptacle portion of the socket. The panels can be moved by tightening a tensioning line.

A knee joint structure includes a knee joint head portion, a knee-joint body portion, and at least one curved plate. The knee joint head portion includes a position-returning device made up of a piston, an elastic body, and an adjustment cap and a transmission axle. The transmission axle includes a push-bar axle, which is pivotally coupled to a push bar operable to drive and move the piston. The knee-joint body portion includes a connection rod pivotally connected to the knee joint head portion. The curved plate connects the transmission axle and the knee joint body portion.

A shock-absorbing twisting structure includes a first seat and a second seat. The first seat includes an elastic member. A stop member is arranged at one side of the first seat. The second seat is formed with a receiving chamber that is fit over the first seat, such that the elastic member is set in elastic engagement with and is supported between the first seat and the second seat. A main axle penetrates through the second seat and is received in the first seat to set the second seat in a rotatable condition. An elastic unit is arranged at each of two sides of the receiving chamber and the stop member.

A socket for engaging a residual limb includes a plurality of hard counters, each configured to engage the residual limb at defined “go points”. The go points can bear pressure without discomfort or impeding range of motion. The counters are further configured to avoid contact with identified “no go” points where excess tissue may inhibit motion or experience irritation upon movement and which include one or more contoured pads to more effectively engage the bony prominences of the limb without inhibiting motion. A chassis from which each of the counters may flexibly depend connects the residual limb mechanically to a limb extension. A lacing system alternately intersects the counters and terminates in a tensioning reel. Rotation of the tensioning reel in a first direction will draw the laces over each of the counters such that the tensioned laces will draw counters together to engage the residual limb.

A time-dependent decay behavior is incorporated into one or more joint actuator control parameters during operation of a lower-extremity, prosthetic, orthotic or exoskeleton device. These parameters may include joint equilibrium, joint impedance (e.g., stiffness, damping) and/or joint torque components (e.g., gain, exponent). The decay behavior may be exponential, linear, piecewise, or may conform to any other suitable function. Embodiments presented herein are used in a control system that emulates biological muscle-tendon reflex response providing for a natural walking experience. Further, joint impedance may depend on an angular rate of the joint. Such a relationship between angular rate and joint impedance may assist a wearer in carrying out certain activities, such as standing up and ascending a ladder.

An adjustable socket system includes first and second shell components and first and second longitudinal supports connected to a base. The socket system is movable between an open configuration to loosen the fit of the socket system, and a closed configuration to secure the fit of the socket system on residual limb received therein. A tightening system includes a tensioning unit having a handle defining a moment arm rotatable about a rotation axis, and a tensioning element operatively coupled to the handle via a movable connection point located and protected between the first shell component and the first support and to the shell components via a control point. Rotation of the handle displaces the movable connection point and the tensioning element relative to the control point to move the socket system to the closed configuration.

A prosthetic or orthotic device can include at least one device portion and a joint portion for providing for the at least one device portion to pivot between flexion and extension movements relative to another adjacent device portion or an adjacent limb segment of a user. In some embodiments, a prosthetic or orthotic device can include a compliant transmission assembly in operational communication with the joint portion. The compliant transmission assembly can include a compliant member and a pivot. The pivot can be interposed between the compliant member and the joint portion. In some embodiments, the compliant member absorbs energy when a torque is applied.

In some embodiments of a prosthetic or orthotic ankle/foot, a prediction is made of what the walking speed will be during an upcoming step. When the predicted walking speed is slow, the characteristics of the apparatus are then modified so that less net-work that is performed during that step (as compared to when the predicted walking speed is fast). This may be implemented using one sensor from which the walking speed can be predicted, and a second sensor from which ankle torque can be determined. A controller receives inputs from those sensors, and controls a motor's torque so that the torque for slow walking speeds is lower than the torque for fast walking speeds. A controller determines a desired torque based on the output, and controls the motor's torque based on the determined desired torque.