Shock-Absorbing Pylons Research

Introduction

One factor in determining the amount of mobility possible for a lower limb amputee is the health of the soft tissue and skin on their residual limb. Prosthetic manufactures have developed shock-absorbing pylons to attenuate heel strike transients transmitted to the residual limb during locomotion. The purpose of this project is to characterize the performance of shock-absorbing pylons for below knee amputees and ultimately provide clinical pylon prescription guidelines.

The Pylons

Total Shock Model 4410 (Ossur, Rejikijavik, Iceland)

Mercury TT Pylon (Chas A Blatchford & Sons, Ltd., Hampshire, England, UK)

ICON^TM Shock Pylon (Ossur, Rejikijavik, Iceland)
 

Research Activities

Non-linear mechanical testing conducted at the Applied Biomechanics Laboratory at Harborview Medical Center (Seattle, WA).

Gait Analysis conducted at the VA Rehab R&D Center Motion Analysis Lab. Kinetic, kinematic, and accelerometry data collected from unilateral below-knee amputees.

The formulation of mathematical models to help understand and predict the performance of shock-absorbing pylons. The models will be used to help generate clinical prescription guidelines as well as novel shock absorbing designs.

Research Team

This Site is for patients and researchers interested in prosthetic and amputation research. Veterans can find VA health care information at the VA home page.