Patent ID: 11963888
Assignee: OTTO BOCK HEALTHCARE PRODUCTS GMBH
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 10:
11. A method to control the stance phase damping of an artificial knee joint, the method comprising:
providing an upper part, a lower part, a resistance unit, a control unit, and at least one sensor coupled to the control unit, the upper and lower parts being pivotally connected to each other, the resistance unit having an adjustment device and being operable to modify a damping resistance of the artificial knee joint, and the control unit is coupled to the adjustment device to control adjustments to the damping resistance based on sensor data from the at least one sensor;
detecting a knee angle with the at least one sensor during a period from an initial heel strike of a stance phase up to a terminal stance phase;
holding a flexion damping constant at an initial flexion damping value from an initial heel strike until the knee angle has reached a threshold value;
increasing the flexion damping in a manner dependent on load to a level above the initial flexion damping value from when the knee angle has reached the threshold value until the knee angle has reached a set maximum knee angle; and
holding the flexion damping constant at the level above the initial flexion damping value from when the knee angle has reached the set maximum knee angle until either a set period of time has elapsed or a forward rotation of the lower part is detected, wherein when the knee angle has reached the set maximum knee angle further flexion is prevented until either the set period of time has elapsed or the forward rotation of the lower part is detected.