Around 700 transfemoral amputations take place in the Netherlands on a yearly basis [Geertzen, 2008]. Although not every Patient with a Transfemoral Amputation (PTFA) will regain walking ability, these numbers indicate the need for prescribing prostheses [Rietman, 2007]. Recently, more and more emphasis is being placed on justifying the indication when prescribing prostheses.
However, an evidencebased indication is not always possible because little is known about what type of prosthesis is most suited for which type of patient [van der Linde, 2004]. Next to the fact that this could lead to local variability in prescribing prostheses, this could also lead to under- or overtreatment [CBO, 2011]. Practically, this might lead to non-optimal prosthetic functioning, which, in turn, might lead to a nonoptimal level of daily functioning of PTFA’s. Based on this, the CBO concept guideline entitled ‘Amputation and prosthetics of the lower extremity’ states that ‘what type of prosthesis for which type of patient’ is one of the essential research questions for the foreseeable future.

 The aim of this project:

The TIPS project is aimed to answer the following research questions:

• what is the natural recovery ofthe walking ability of PTFA’s?
• what is the effect of different types of prostheses on the walking ability of PTFA’s with a stable walking pattern?
• what valid and reliable outcome measures could be used to quantify the effect of different types of prostheses on the walking pattern of PTFA’s with a stable walking pattern?

To gain:

• more knowledge about individual patient-prosthesis interactions and its relationship with patient characteristics.
• insight in the natural recovery of the walking ability of PTFA’s in terms of kinematic and kinetic variables, muscle activation patterns and oxygen cost.
• insight in gait variability of TFA´s with a stable walking pattern.

And:

• Development and/or evaluation of valid and reliable outcome measures to quantify
  patient-prosthesis interactions in PTFA’s with a stable walking pattern.