NEWS 23 April 2023
Measuring ground reaction forces in running-specific prostheses
Although running-specific prostheses (RSPs) already allow amputee sprinters to run almost as fast as able-bodied sprinters, new ways of measuring these prostheses are still being developed to help amputee sprinters run even faster.
In the project described in this Mikroniek article, a measurement system for RSPs was developed that is able to measure the ground reaction forces (GRFs) while sprinting. It uses Fiber Bragg Grating sensors to measure the strain in the prosthesis, from which the GRFs can be calculated. The measurement system was shown to hold up under the wear and tear of a sprinter’s environment, while also recording valuable data for athletes. (Image courtesy of Tijmen Seignette, TU Delft)
