The aim of the project “ Artificial knee joint prosthesis with adaptive properties” is to fill the urgent need - rehabilitation of people with affected limbs. Particularly, the improvement and development of a fundamentally new adaptive domestic knee joint prosthesis is the main goal. The project was designed for prosthetics, but can be used in various industries to extinguish and absorb mechanical vibrations in a wide range of temperatures. It provides a variable mode of cushioning and stressing in the process of motion.
The damper is based on the principle of absorption of a hinged mechanism’s momentum energy and its transformation into thermal energy due to viscous friction on the throttle elements.. Herewith, the automatic compensation of the working fluid’s thermal expansion is foreseen in the damper device design, which provides the stability of characteristics, reliable and durable working capacity in a various climatic conditions A required wide range of speeds of a hinge mechanism of a joint is provided by a variable volume pneumatic chamber of a damping device, which is under excessive pressure.
The main aim of the project was to create an operating sample of damping device with a thermostable characteristic. Research prototypes of pneumo-hydraulic, magnetic-hydraulic, magnetic-rheological intellectual damper have been developed. The damper’s thermostabilization is realized by the application in its design of special thermosensitive modules, which allow to stabilize the stress on the damper rod, depending on changes in ambient temperature, modes and operating conditions.
Specialists of MMI, IFF, PBF Igor Sikorsky KPI developed a modern, lightweight, high-quality pneumohydraulics, which is not inferior to the world's analogues. With the support of MEDICAL-PRO LLC and unindifferent people at the enterprises, the first samples of domestic prosthetics were made free of charge. The authors of the project are the employees and students of the Department of Applied Hydroaeromechanics and Mechanotronics: O.F.Lugovsky, O.V.Uzunov, I.V.Nochnichenko, O.S.Galeletsky, M.M. Dovgopoly, S.V. Strutinsky, AI Zilinsky, D.V.Kostiuk. According to the results of "Sikorsky Challenge" startup contest, the project “Artificial knee joint prosthesis with adaptive properties”will receive sponsorship from V.S.Mihalevich Scientific and Technological Development of Ukraine Foundation and the prize of the L.D. Kuchma Presidium Foundation "Ukraine”.
At this stage, the authors have developed dampers with the ability to adapt to changing operating conditions and operating modes. The design of the damper of the knee joint prosthesis has a modular layout, which will allow for cheaper and easier repair and provide a quick adjustment of the damper for individual parameters. Manufacturing of magnetic-hydraulic and magnetic-rheological damper, which are high speed, have amount of control and extended lifetime compared to known analogues, is also being carried out. It is planned to create a high-quality intellectual knee joint prosthesis in the future.