Prosthetic Foot
Our group is developing high-performance and affordable passive prosthetic feet to impact the lives of below-knee amputees worldwide.
In India alone, there are about one million people with lower limb amputations. These people are using inadequate limbs that require significantly more effort to walk, exhibit unnatural walking motions, and are subject to social stigmas preventing them from employment and independent living. There is a gap between the high performance prosthetic feet in the United States that cost thousands of dollars and the affordable prostheses used in low and middle income countries (LMIC) that lack quality, durability, and performance.
We created a novel metric, the Lower Leg Trajectory Error (LLTE) to evaluate and design passive prosthetic feet that enable specific walking patterns.
GEAR Lab is working with Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) to design an updated version of their Jaipur Foot, which is the most widely distributed prosthetic foot in the world. The original Jaipur Foot’s success was due to its lifelike look, flexibility, and extreme durability. We aim to create a new version of the foot that is much lighter, can be mass-manufactured, meets international testing standards, is compatible with other prosthetic equipment, and matches the durability of the current foot. We developed a novel metric called Lower Leg Trajectory Error (LLTE) that maps the mechanical design of a prosthetic foot to its biomechanical performance, meaning that we can optimize the compliance and geometry of a passive prosthesis to replicate able-bodied gait dynamics using affordable materials.
With these effort, we designed mass-manufacturable, and affordable energy-storage and return prostheses that are being field tested with our partners in India.
We used the LLTE to design a single part foot with a life-like cosmetic cover that can be mass produced in India. We are currently conducting clinical trials with the help of the BMVSS. Subjects will use our prototype feet for all their activities of daily living over a month-long period, and their feedback will be used to further refine our design. In the future, we will apply the LLTE to other ambulatory tasks such as running and ascending stairs, to create high performance, multi-purpose, low-cost prosthetic feet that can be mass produced in India and throughout low and middle income countries.
Our team has conducted multiple user-interviews and field pilots.
Jaipur Foot prosthesis distributed by BMVSS in Jaipur, India.
Single part foot prosthetic foot designed for affordability and performance using the LLTE.
In-lab prosthetic mechanical testing to ensure our prostheses meet the safety requirements.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Multi-keel Passive Prosthetic Foot Design Optimization Using the Lower Leg Trajectory Error Framework
Victor Prost, Heidi V Peterson, Amos G. Winter, V. Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics (2022) || download
Biomechanical evaluation over level ground walking of user‑specific prosthetic feet designed using the lower leg trajectory error framework
Victor Prost, W. Brett Johnson, Jenny A. Kent, Matthew J. Major & Amos G. Winter V. Nature Scientific Reports (2022) || download
Biomechanical Evaluation of Prosthetic Feet Designed Using the Lower Leg Trajectory Error Framework
Victor Prost, W Brett Johnson, Jenny A Kent, Matthew J Major, Amos G Winter. Preprint in Research Square (2021) || download
Experimental Demonstration of the Lower Leg Trajectory Error Framework Using Physiological Data as Input
Olesnavage, K.M., Prost, V., Johnson, W.B., Major, M.J., & Winter, A. ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering (2021) || download
Experimental Demonstration of the Lower Leg Trajectory Error Framework Using Physiological Data as Input
Olesnavage, K.M., Prost, V., Johnson, W.B., Major, M.J., & Winter, A. ASME Journal of Biomechanical Engineering (2020) || download
Passive Prosthetic Foot Shape and Size Optimization Using Lower Leg Trajectory Error
Olesnavage, K.M., Prost, V., Johnson, W.B., & Winter, A., ASME Journal of Mechanical Design (2018) || download
Design and Testing of a Prosthetic Foot with Interchangeable Custom Rotational Springs for Evaluating Lower Leg Trajectory Error, an Optimization Framework for Prosthetic Feet
Prost, V., Olesnavage, K.M., Johnson, W.B., Major, M.J., & Winter, A., ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics (2018) || download
A Novel Framework for Quantitatively Connecting the Mechanical Design of Passive Prosthetic Feet to Lower Leg Trajectory
Olesnavage, K.M., & Winter, A., IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering (2018) || download
Peer-Reviewed Conference Articles
Multi-Keel Passive Prosthetic Foot Design Optimization Using the Lower Leg Trajectory Error Framework
Prost, V, Peterson, HV, & Winter, AG, V. ASME/IDETC: 45th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference (2021) Virtual
Design of Customized, 3D Printed Prosthetic Feet using the Lower Leg Trajectory Error Metric
Folinus, C. M. and Winter, A.G. 18th World Congress of the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (2021)
Experimental Investigation of Passive Prosthetic Feet Designed for Multiple Walking Activities using the Lower Leg Trajectory Error Methodology
Folinus, C. M., Prost, V., and Winter, A. G. 16th Annual Dynamic Walking Conference (2021). Virtual.
Design and Testing of a Prosthetic Foot Prototype with Interchangeable Custom Rotational Springs to Adjust Ankle Stiffness for Evaluating Lower Leg Trajectory Error, an Optimization Metric for Prosthetic Feet
Prost, V., Olesnavage, K.M., & Winter, A., 41st Mechanisms and Robotics Conference ASME IDETC/CIE (2017)
Development of a Passive and Slope Adaptable Prosthetic Foot
Amiot, D.E., Schmidt, R.M., Law, A., Meinig, E.P., Yu, L., Olesnavage, K.M., Prost, V., & Winter, A., 41st Mechanisms and Robotics Conference ASME IDETC/CIE (2017)
Passive Prosthetic Foot Shape and Size Optimization Using Lower Leg Trajectory Error
Olesnavage, K.M., & Winter, A., 41st Mechanisms and Robotics Conference ASME IDETC/CIE (2017)
Design and Preliminary Testing of a Prototype for Evaluating Lower Leg Trajectory Error as an Optimization Metric for Prosthetic Feet
Olesnavage, K., & Winter, A., 40th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference ASME IDETC/CIE (2016)
Lower Leg Trajectory Error: A Novel Optimization Parameter for Designing Passive Prosthetic Feet
Olesnavage, K., & Winter, A., 14th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, IEEE/RAS-EMBS ICORR (2015)
Design and Qualitative Testing of a Prosthetic Foot with Rotational Ankle and Metatarsal Joints to Mimic Physiological Roll-Over Shape
Olesnavage, K., & Winter, A., 39th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference ASME IDETC/CIE (2015)
Analysis of Rollover Shape and Energy Storage and Return in Cantilever Beam-Type Prosthetic Feet
Olesnavage, K., & Winter, A., 38th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference ASME IDETC/CIE (2014)
Theses
Design and Mechanical Validation of Commercially Viable, Personalized Passive Prosthetic Feet
Charlotte Folinus, Master’s Thesis (MIT, May 2022)
Development and Validation of a Passive Prosthetic Foot Design Framework based on Lower Leg Dynamics
Victor Prost, PhD Thesis (MIT, August 2021)
Design of a Novel Mechatronic System to Test Prosthetic Feet Under Specific Walking Activity Loads and Evaluate their Lower Leg Trajectory Error
Heidi Peterson, Master’s Thesis (MIT, August 2021)
Development and validation of a novel framework for designing and optimizing passive prosthetic feet using lower leg trajectory
Olesnavage, K.M., PhD Thesis (MIT, 2017)
Experimental validation of the Lower Leg Trajectory Error, an optimization metric for prosthetic feet
Prost, V., Master's Thesis (MIT, 2017)
Design and Evaluation of a Cantilever Beam – Type Prosthetic Foot for Indian Persons with Amputations
Olesnavage, K.., Master's Thesis (MIT, 2014)
Press
Prof. Amos Winter joins “BOOM: Biomechanics on our Minds” podcast, available on Spotify, SoundCloud, or Apple Podcast
Prosthetic foot project, "A Better Prosthetic Foot for the Developing World," on Inside Science
Prosthetic foot project, "Low-cost prosthetic foot mimics natural walking," on MIT News
Kathryn Olesnavage under the Spotlight, on Tata Center News
Kathryn Olesnavage Graduate Winner of the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize "Cure it!", on MIT News
Katy Olesnavage Featured Student, on MIT MechE