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

Claim 0:
1. A method for controlling the stance phase damping of an artificial knee joint, the method comprising:
providing an upper part and a lower part which are fastened to one another in a manner pivotable about a pivot axis, a resistance unit which is arranged between the upper part and the lower part and which has an adjustment device to modify the damping resistance, a control unit which is coupled to the adjustment device and which is connected to at least one sensor, wherein the adjustment is carried out using sensor data from the at least one sensor;
detecting, during a period from an initial heel strike of a stance phase up until a terminal stance phase, a knee angle using the at least one sensor;
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.