FURI | Spring 2019

Feasibility of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators in Lower Limb Prosthetic

The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of using dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) for powering prosthetic feet. DEAs are essentially a deformable capacitor and previous studies have shown that DEAs can have unique desired deformations for upper limb movements. While force output in DEAs has been looked into, this study will focus on how much work a DEA configured as a traditional prosthetic foot design can provide. This can potentially provide amputees addition work when they are walking which can reduce secondary complications that come following amputation.