The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded a $972,000 Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program grant to Tommaso Lenzi, PhD, to validate a new approach to improving mobility for those with amputations, namely providing bilateral hip assistance with a motorized orthosis. Lenzi a mechanical engineering assistant professor with the University of Utah, directs the university’s Bionic Engineering Lab, which is affiliated with the Utah Robotics Center.
The working hypothesis of the project, called Motorized Hip Orthoses to Improve the Gait Ability of Transfemoral Amputees, is that a motorized hip orthosis will improve kinematic and kinetic gait symmetry and reduce metabolic energy consumption in individuals with transfemoral amputations, when compared to walking without a hip orthosis.
