Design and Fabrication of an Affordable Transfemoral Prosthetic Leg

Abstract

An invalid is a person with physical or mental abnormalities which hinders their ability of doing normal human activities. One of the aforementioned abnormalities is the loss or malfunction of a body part or organ, such as the human leg. Problems brought about by this disability could be alleviated by the use of prosthetic limbs to restore normal bodily functions [1]. While there are many needs for leg prosthetics in Indonesia, the price of commercially available prosthetic is prohibitively high for most amputees. The current available affordable prosthetics are very basic and employ monocentric knee joints. Here an attempt is made towards acquiring an optimal design of an affordable prosthetic leg using previously developed four-bar knee joint [2,3]. The design is carried out by implementing a systematic design method to arrive at an affordable, yet ones with better performances. The procedure involves a rubric and analyzing various alternatives to arrive at an optimal design conclusion. The evaluation objective is to maximize the performance of the leg and knee prosthetics through an extensive analysis with considerations from various stakeholders, including the potential users, fabricator, and hospitals in Indonesia [4]. The final design of the leg consists of a composite socket, an aluminum pylon, and a solid-ankle cushioned-heel foot design. Its components are modular and compatible with prosthetic industry standards. The knee is made of a combination of polymers and stainless steel and employs a polycentric mechanism in order to satisfy design requirements while keeping costs low [4,5]. The leg and knee were then fabricated according to the analysis results. The total cost of fabrication is approximately 5.5 million IDR, significantly cheaper than commercial prosthetics. The prototype is then tested and examined using a gait analysis system previously developed at Institut Teknologi Bandung by the Biomechanics Research Team [6]. The results show satisfactory performance, albeit with a host of potential improvements.