Enhancing Lower Limb Prosthetic Performance: A Detailed Analysis of the BirdBot Model and Its Instrumentation

There exists a notably high level of dissatisfaction among lower-limb amputee patients fitted with their affiliated prosthetics. Approximately 40%-60% of amputee patients have been surveyed as dissatisfied with their prostheses. Fifty-seven percent are dissatisfied with the comfort of their prostheses, and over 50% report pain while using their prostheses. Rejection of the prosthesis can be seen as the ultimate expression of dissatisfaction with the prosthesis and occurs in up to 31% of cases of prostheses prescribed to armed forces service members with lower limb amputations, mainly as a result of technical problems (e.g., “too much fuss” during use and the prosthesis being “too heavy”). As a solution to this significant surveyed dissatisfaction, our study attempts to utilize a unique model known as the ‘BirdBot Model’–a lower limb prosthetic model inspired by the biomechanics of emu and ostrich (flightless birds) leg limbs– to explore how the model’s design, movement capabilities, and calculated stability can be applied to improve prosthetic limb functionality for human lower-limb amputee patients4 . Current literature suggests little on this topic as this model was made for the initial intention of mimicking the emu/ostrich leg movement. Our study aims to consolidate the available information on this model and highlight its mechanistic potential to improve human lower limb movement, encouraging further investigation into its application for enhancing prosthetic efficiency.