IIT-D scholars patent prosthetic limb guided by good leg

Two young scientists from IIT-Delhi have
received a provisional patent for the
prototype of a prosthetic limb that will
enable amputees to walk “without having
to drag their leg”.
Deepak Joshi and Ramandeep Singh,
research scholars at the Centre for
Biomedical Engineering in IIT-Delhi, have
developed a control strategy for speed
adaptive walking in an above-knee
prosthesis. With the use of a transmitter,
people who have received below-knee
amputations will be able to walk with ease
and without disturbing their gait as the
prosthetic leg would mimic the action of
the good leg.
“To control the prosthetic limb, two
variables were measured, namely, knee
angle and the walking speed. Knee angle
(how much the knee bends) of the normal
limb was measured by using a
potentiometer fitted with the micro-
controller,” Singh said.
A heel switch placed at the shoe of the
normal limb identifies the walking speed,
converts it to an algorithm and transmits it
to through wireless module to the
prosthetic limb. “The radio frequency (RF)
wireless transmission is used to transfer
the data from normal limb to prosthetic
limb,” Singh said.
He said the algorithm has been successfully
implemented in a prototype. It consists of
three parts: knee joint, leg and foot. A
stepper motor is incorporated with the
knee joint itself. As the stepper motor
receives the signal from the circuit, it
rotates the knee joint.
The patent has been filed by Foundation of
Innovation and Technology Transfer (IIT-
Delhi) and complete provisional
specifications were received on February
13.
The two research scholars have been
mentored by Professor Sneh Anand from
IIT-Delhi and Dr U Singh from the All
India Institute for Medical Sciences. The
Centre for Biomedical Engineering, set up
in 1971, is a joint venture of the two
institutes.
“The project is unique not only in its
application, but also in its hardware and
software design,” Prof Anand, who heads
the Centre for Biomedical Engineering,
said.
The USP of the project is the use of
minimum number of sensors with
maximum accuracy in prediction that will
help increase a person’s adaptability to the
prosthetic limb.
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