Design of transfemoral prosthesis for above the knee amputees

Abstract

Transfemoral amputation is a condition where the person above the knee area is amputated due to some infection, cancer or trauma. Due to this their mobility is eminently compromised, their lifestyle gets affected and also the individual’s self-confidence is distraught. The only way to aid this condition is to provide a prosthetic to provide support and mitigate easy movement. Usually, prosthetics are not selected due to high cost. In India there are around two lakh thirty thousand amputees in need of prosthetic care but are hesitant to opt for one, for the reason that they are expensive. Most of them go for cosmesis due to this demographic. In this work, we focus on developing a mechanical knee joint prosthesis where the pylon or the shank is replaced by a shock absorber in order to reduce the transient mechanical force acting on the artificial leg. By replacing the basic design with the shock absorber, it also enables the subject to perform other activities such as jumping and jogging with ease as the force is dispersed evenly on the prosthesis. In this we also perform von mises analysis, strain analysis and displacement analysis and carry through a comparative analysis between two commonly used materials in making the prosthetic against carbon fibre and prove the efficacy of carbon fibre.