Functional analysis of the UC-BL shank axial rotation device.

1Previouslv published in Orthopadie-Technik, 1/75, 7-9. Origins of concept "Present indications are that transverse rota­ t ions of the various segments of the leg are an impor tant factor in the ease and rhy thm of walking of normal individuals. In order to improve function, reduce fatigue, and prevent more or less continual abrasion at critical points of the s tump of the amputee , provision in the prosthesis for allowing transverse rotat ions of the same order of magni tude as present in normal legs has the possibility of being a major contr ibution t o the improvement of artificial legs." The above statement is a direct quote of the opening paragraph in the 1947 report on funda­ mental studies of human locomotion by the University of California Prosthetic Devices Research Project established at Berkeley in 1945. The goal of these studies was to provide a basis for improvements in prosthetics tech­ nology. F r o m their results nothing stood out more clearly than the need for a device to allow passive axial ro ta t ion between socket and foot in lower-limb prostheses.