Importance

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Abstract

A prosthetic joint including a hydraulic system, comprising: at least one chamber; at least one accumulator configured to store hydraulic fluid at a high pressure; at least one reservoir configured to store hydraulic fluid at a low pressure; one or more fluid flow paths connecting the chamber to the accumulator and the reservoir, flow controllers in the fluid flow paths, and fluid distributed throughout the hydraulic system; a load-determining sensor; a displacement-determining sensor; and a microprocessor configured to actuate one or more flow controllers based upon a load determining sensor input, a displacement-determining sensor input, a product of the load-determining sensor input and the displacement-determining sensor input, any time derivative thereof, or any combination thereof, wherein one or more flow controllers are configured to control displacing fluid from the chamber to the accumulator during periods of a threshold negative work, and one or more flow controllers are configured to control displacing fluid from the accumulator to the chamber to perform positive work.

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First Claim