A NOVEL APPROACH FOR CUSTOMIZED PROSTHETIC SOCKET DESIGN

Abstract

The manufacturing of limb prosthesis socket that is comfortable for the amputee depends greatly on prosthetic practitioner’s knowledge of socket biomechanics and skill. It involves multistage manual corrections depending upon the clinical condition of the patient’s residual limb which may be affected by shrinkage or possible damage of plaster of paris (PoP) mold. The current work describes a novel process simplified through digitization, it integrates conventional PoP processes, reverse engineering (RE), and additive manufacturing (AM) technologies to design and develop a socket. The stereolithography (STL) file generated from the scan data was modeled on a fused deposition modeling (FDM) based AM. Its fitment was assessed with the help of INSPECTPLUS and GEOMAGIC reverse engineering tools. This approach takes the guess work out of prosthetic practitioner’s job, ensures better fitment, and shortens the total fabrication time leading to improved patient satisfaction. The proposed method is a part of the ongoing research and it will offer maximum comfort on demand to the patients through digitization.