Introduction

The invention refers to an ankle-foot prosthesis with a foot made of carbon fiber, able to replicate the main functions of a human ankle, especially those related to walking. The present invention allows real-time adjustment of the ankle articulation angle and damping control.

Technical features

There are mechanical prostheses on the market in which the ankle never participates in energy recovery. Such prostheses do not guarantee a faithful replica of the physiological movement of the ankle. Instead, the bionic foot prostheses allow to vary the pitch of the ankle, reproducing the function performed by the muscles. These prostheses allow energy recovery only thanks to the elasticity of the foot, while they do not allow the natural rotation of the foot during the load-response and pre-swing phases. The technology proposed aims to make available a prosthesis foot-ankle able to combine the advantages of foot energy return to a bionic system able to vary the pitch of the ankle and at the same time to recover energy while keeping stable the footstep.

Possible Applications

• Realization of lower limb prostheses for foot and ankle.

Advantages

• Greater comfort, thanks to a better ability to replicate the functionality of an ankle;
• Less fatigue in the use of the prosthesis;
• Greater stability and security in the use on any surface.