Fabricated leg mannequin for the pressure measurement of compression stockings

Abstract

Different lower limbs and devices used for the contact pressure measurement of the compression stocking make a significant difference to the precise contact pressure value. This study aimed to fabricate a novel soft leg mannequin based on the standard-sized wooden leg mannequin, but closer to the human leg with soft tissue and bones and to evaluate further the performance of the fabricated leg mannequin. The contact pressure exerted by the graduated compression stocking was measured by the fabricated leg mannequin at four different locations along six different cross-sections. Comparing the contact pressure measured by the fabricated leg mannequin, the standard-sized wooden leg mannequin and human legs, the fabricated leg mannequin has a similar pattern to human legs, and contact pressure exerted by the wooden leg mannequin was far higher than that of human legs. In addition, the local contact pressure measured by the fabricated leg mannequin also has a remarkable agreement with that of human legs. Moreover, there was a significant Spearman rank correlation between the contact pressure measured by the fabricated leg mannequin and the human leg. Therefore, the performance of the fabricated leg mannequin can be consistent with the human leg, which enables the fabricated leg mannequin to replace the standard-sized wooden leg mannequin for standard tests.