Development of 3D Printed Socket for Transtibial Prosthetic Leg

• Published in: International Exchange and Innovation Conference on Engineering and Sciences
• Main Author: Fadzil W.F.A.W.; Mazlan M.A.; Hanapiah F.A.; Abdullah A.H.
• Format: Conference paper
• Language: English
• Published: Kyushu University 2019
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85132798445&partnerID=40&md5=25e0e852ba175c56b6761fac903f9e43

The high cost to fabricate a good quality prosthetic leg became a burden to patients especially those with financial constraint. Experienced and specific skills are required to build a customized prosthetic leg and therefore also contribute to time consuming. The socket of the limb prosthesis requires adjustment and modification to accommodate the changes occurred in the residual limb over time. Development of 3D printed of lower limb socket as proposed in this study is expected to be an alternative in the near future. The objectives of this project are to (i) design a lower limb socket for below knee amputees according to size and shape of residual stump, (ii) analyze the performance of the socket at different infill density and (iii) fabricate the lower limb socket using 3D printing technology. The design stage of the project involved four main phases which are data collection and processing, product design, finite element analysis and fabrication of the socket using 3D printing. The analysis findings were discussed based on the resulting von mises stress, shear stress and total displacement. It was suggested that the socket is sufficient to be printed at 60% infill density. In comparable with other infill density percentage, the 60% model experienced only 0.413 MPa of von Mises stress and 0.0067mm of displacement.