In individuals with lower-limb amputations, robotic prostheses can increase walking speed, and reduce energy use, the incidence of falls and the development of secondary complications. However, safe and reliable prosthetic-limb control strategies for robust ambulation in real-world settings remain out of reach, partly because control strategies have been tested with different robotic hardware in constrained laboratory settings. Here, we report the design and clinical implementation of an integrated robotic knee–ankle prosthesis that facilitates the real-world testing of its biomechanics and control strategies. The bionic leg is open source, it includes software for low-level control and for communication with control systems, and its hardware design is customizable, enabling reduction in its mass and cost, improvement in its ease of use and independent operation of the knee and ankle joints. We characterized the electromechanical and thermal performance of the bionic leg in benchtop testing, as well as its kinematics and kinetics in three individuals during walking on level ground, ramps and stairs. The open-source integrated-hardware solution and benchmark data that we provide should help with research and clinical testing of knee–ankle prostheses in real-world environments.

在下肢截肢患者中，机器人假肢可以提高步行速度，并减少能量消耗，跌倒的发生率和继发并发症的发生。但是，在现实环境中进行稳健移动的安全可靠的假肢控制策略仍然遥不可及，部分原因是控制策略已在受限的实验室环境中用不同的机器人硬件进行了测试。在这里，我们报告了集成的机器人膝踝假体的设计和临床实施情况，该假体有助于对其生物力学和控制策略进行实际测试。仿生线是开源的，它包括用于低级控制和与控制系统通信的软件，并且其硬件设计是可定制的，从而降低了质量和成本，易于使用以及膝关节和踝关节的独立操作方面的改进。我们在台式测试中表征了仿生腿的机电和热性能，以及在水平地面，坡道和楼梯上行走时三个人的运动学和动力学。我们提供的开源集成硬件解决方案和基准数据应有助于在现实环境中进行膝踝假体的研究和临床测试。