Investigation into the Customization of a Transfemoral Prosthetic Socket to Minimize Discomfort for Residual Limb (RL) Volume Change

Abstract

It has been estimated that approximately 7000 people undergo limb amputation in the UK every year [1]. This issue is even more significant in the US, where over 150,000 people undergo lower limb extremity amputations, and this number is predicted to increase by 47% in 2050 [2]. This traumatic and risky procedure leads to lifelong disability that has a direct impacts a patients mobility [4]. As a result, this creates a economic burden on the healthcare system and the economy as a whole [4]. Despite the ever-increasing number of amputees, the fitting of prosthetic sockets remains artisan in nature and often fails to satisfactorily address the stresses experienced between the socket and the RL (RL). This leads to patient discomfort and an average of 25% of users abandoning their prosthesis (Fully Equipped). In this paper, we present a process for monitoring the internal area of a prosthetic socket for above-knee amputees through the use of an electronic circuit incorporating pressure and temperature sensors. This experiment is an extension of the previous experiment where Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been applied to the same case study and compared with patient experience to analyze the internal socket conditions in the context of discomfort areas. This experiment also demonstrates how commercially available sensors could be integrated within a socket to determine the stresses experienced and hence validate further the FEA studies. Ultimately, the objective of this experiment is to identify the correlation between the collected sensor data from the socket, the discomfort areas, and the verbal feedback on the pain experienced by the amputee. As far as the authors are concerned, this is the first time this type of experiment is being conducted in both outdoor and indoor conditions where real-time sensor data is being collected while an amputee is performing six different activities from high impact level to low impact level.