Abstract
Increased temperature and perspiration within a prosthetic socket is a common complaint of many amputees. The heat dissipation in prosthetic sockets is greatly influenced by the thermal conductive properties of the socket and interface liner materials. These materials influence the body's temperature regulation mechanism and might be the reason for thermal discomfort in prosthetic sockets. Monitoring interface temperature at skin level is notoriously complicated. The problem might be considered notorious because embedding wires and sensors in an elastomer eventually results in elastomer failures because of the high strain induced when donning a liner (amputees roll the liners onto their limbs). Another reason is because placing sensors and wires directly against the skin could cause irritation and chaffing over just a short period of time. We describe a route wherein if the thermal properties of the socket and liner materials are known, the in-socket residual limb temperature could be accurately predicted by monitoring the temperature between socket and liner rather than skin and liner using the Gaussian process technique.
Highlights
M ONITORING and predicting the residual limb skin health in lower limb amputees is of principal importance as the socket of the prosthesis creates a warm and humid microenvironment that encourages growth of bacteria and skin breakdown [1], [2]
Studies on temperature within the prosthetic sockets of transtibial prosthetic users have been described by Peery et al [8], [9]
They investigated the in-socket temperature of five transtibial amputees at 14 different locations on the residual limb and at four different stages, i.e., donning, steady-state resting, initial walking, and steadystate walking. Their results indicated that the thermal dissipation characteristics of socket and liner restrict heat loss from the residual limb and the temperature increase is larger in areas where there is more muscle bulk
Summary
M ONITORING and predicting the residual limb skin health in lower limb amputees is of principal importance as the socket of the prosthesis creates a warm and humid microenvironment that encourages growth of bacteria and skin breakdown [1], [2]. Studies on temperature within the prosthetic sockets of transtibial prosthetic users have been described by Peery et al [8], [9] They investigated the in-socket temperature of five transtibial amputees at 14 different locations on the residual limb and at four different stages, i.e., donning, steady-state resting, initial walking, and steadystate walking. Their results indicated that the thermal dissipation characteristics of socket and liner restrict heat loss from the residual limb and the temperature increase is larger in areas where there is more muscle bulk. It was seen that different socket and liner materials affect the temperature increase
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