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Creation of a Knee Joint-on-a-Chip for Modeling Joint Diseases and Testing Drugs

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Bio-Inspired Knee Joint: Trends in the Hardware Systems Development.

Appolinaire C Etoundi¹, Chathura L Semasinghe¹, Subham Agrawal¹

¹Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom.

Frontiers in Robotics and AI

|September 20, 2021

Summary

Researchers are developing advanced bio-inspired knee joints for prosthetics and robotics, mimicking natural knee function. This review highlights key developments and future directions in bio-inspired knee joint design.

Keywords:

bio-inspired mechanism control strategy knee joint prosthesis robotic device

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Area of Science:

Biomechanical Engineering
Robotics
Biomimicry

Background:

The human knee joint is crucial for locomotion but challenging to replicate functionally.
Current prosthetics and assistive devices have limitations in replicating natural knee biomechanics.

Purpose of the Study:

To present current trends in bio-inspired knee joint development.
To review historical advancements in hardware and control systems for bio-inspired knees.
To introduce a novel leg exoskeleton for lower limb functional enhancement.

Main Methods:

Literature review of bio-inspired knee joints from the past decade.
Analysis of anatomical and biomechanical aspects of the knee.
Review of bone, muscle, and ligament structures and control strategies.
Introduction and analysis of a proposed leg exoskeleton design.

Main Results:

Overview of recent bio-inspired knee joint designs focusing on anatomical replication.
Presentation of simulation and experimental results for a novel leg exoskeleton.
Identification of key turning points in bio-inspired knee joint technology.

Conclusions:

Bio-inspired knee joint technology is advancing, with recent developments focusing on mimicking natural structures and functions.
Leg exoskeletons offer potential for enhancing human lower limb functionality.
Future research should address design challenges and explore new directions in bio-inspired knee design.