GRAAL

At the end of their rehabilitation period, amputees have no follow-up and very often develop gait degradations with imbalances between the lower limbs, poor use of the prosthesis, reduced walking speed, autonomy of movement and pain.

The ambition of this research project is to detect the onset of these degradations upstream through a comprehensive analysis of amputee walking with the use of optoelectronic systems for movement analysis, recording muscle activity, kinematics and dynamics. The results of the analysis are then used to propose prostheses adapted to the amputee's needs and abilities, and set up rehabilitation programs evolving towards personalized follow-up and optimal use of the prosthesis needed to facilitate movement and minimize their handicap.

Within the framework of this project, the care of an amputee will therefore take place in 4 phases. A phase of socio-psychological listening, a phase of locomotion quantification, a phase of synthesis of the data collected under the responsibility of the medical partners and then a phase of orthopedic and rehabilitative management. The expected results mainly concern the evolution of walking efficiency: locomotion and autonomy for amputees. The synergy between the expertise of researchers in physiology and biomechanics, orthoprosthetists and rehabilitation specialists (doctors and paramedics) aims to propose innovative and effective solutions to optimize the locomotion of amputees by determining the essential elements to be integrated into the prosthesis according to the amputee's constraints, and by personalizing his or her rehabilitation management over the long term. This project should enable the emergence of new knowledge about amputee walking, but also new solutions for long-term fitting and rehabilitation, while minimizing the social and medical cost of this handicap for the amputee and society.