Knee Joint Weight-Bearing Apparatus With Gas Spring Linkage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Knee osteoarthritis patients experience pain due to the weight-bearing burden on the knee joint, which worsens as the condition progresses, making everyday activities like walking and sitting painful, and existing treatments like total knee replacement or anti-inflammatory analgesics do not adequately address the weight-related pain.
Innovation Solution
A knee joint weight-bearing apparatus comprising a four-bar linkage system with a front thigh link and a rear thigh link, where the rear thigh link includes a gas spring to generate a resistive force, reducing the load on the knee joint and allowing for adjustable and compact design to accommodate different knee shapes and positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a knee joint weight-bearing apparatus is designed to relieve load on the knee joint, then the pain relief effect is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the four-bar linkage structure
Solution Approach 1:
The apparatus is divided into distinct functional components: a buttock attaching part, a lower-leg attaching part, and a thigh connection unit with front and rear thigh links. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while collectively relieving knee joint load through the four-bar linkage mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The thigh connection unit acts as an intermediary mechanical system between the upper body weight (applied at the buttock) and the lower leg. It transmits and transforms forces through the four-bar linkage to reduce the burden on the knee joint, serving as a mediator that modifies force transmission paths.
2Force
If the rear thigh link includes a gas spring to generate resistive force, then the load relief effectiveness is improved, but the device complexity and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
A gas spring is integrated into the rear thigh link to generate a resistive force that counteracts the compressive force during knee bending. This pneumatic element provides controlled mechanical assistance, reducing the load on the knee joint while maintaining a compact structure compared to alternative mechanical spring systems.
3Weight of moving object
If the front thigh link is made lighter than the rear thigh link, then the overall device weight is reduced, but the structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The front thigh link is designed to be lighter than the rear thigh link, matching the local force requirements of each component. The front link primarily handles tensile forces and requires less mass, while the rear link must withstand compressive forces and houses the gas spring, necessitating greater strength and weight. This localized differentiation optimizes the overall weight while maintaining sufficient structural strength where needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The apparatus effectively relieves a part or whole of the weight-bearing load on the knee joint, alleviating pain and allowing patients to perform daily activities with reduced discomfort, particularly by distributing the load through a tensile force in the front thigh link and compressive force in the rear thigh link, with the gas spring providing a consistent resistive force.
Implementation Method 1
the rear thigh link includes a gas spring configured to be able to expand and contract in a longitudinal direction of the rear thigh link and to generate a resistive force against the compressive force
Data Source
AI summary
The knee joint weight-bearing apparatus includes a buttock attaching part, a lower-leg attaching part, and two thigh connection units. Each thigh connection unit includes a front thigh link and a rear thigh link. The buttock attaching part, the lower-leg attaching part, the front thigh link, and the rear thigh link constitute a four-bar linkage. The buttock attaching part is configured so that when a user applies his/her weight to the buttock attaching part, a tensile force is generated in the front thigh link and a compressive force acts on the rear thigh link. The rear thigh link includes a gas spring that is configured to be stretchable in a longitudinal direction thereof and generates a resistive force against the compressive force.