Purpose

There are over 40 million amputees globally with more than 185,000 Americans losing their limbs every year. For most of the world, prosthetic devices remain too expensive and uncomfortable. This paper aims to outline advancements made by a multidisciplinary research group, interested in advancing the restoration of human motion through accessible lower limb prostheses.

Design/methodology/approach

Customization, comfort and functionality are the most important metrics reported by prosthetists and patients. The work of this paper presents the design and manufacturing of a custom made, cost-effective and functional three-dimensional (3D) printed transtibial prosthesis monocoque design. The design of the prosthesis integrates 3D imaging, modelling and optimization techniques coupled with additive manufacturing.

Findings

The successful fabrication of a functional monocoque prosthesis through 3D printing indicates the workflow may be a solution to the worldwide accessibility crisis. The digital workflow developed in this work offers great potential for providing prosthetic devices to rural communities, which lack access to skilled prosthetic physicians. The authors found that using the workflow together with 3D printing, this study can create custom monocoque prostheses (Figure 16). These prostheses are comfortable, functional and properly aligned. In comparison with traditional prosthetic devices, the authors slowered the average cost, weight and time of production by 95%, 55% and 95%, respectively.

Social implications

This novel digital design and manufacturing workflow has the potential to democratize and globally proliferate access to prosthetic devices, which restore the patient’s mobility, quality of life and health. LIMBER’s toolbox can reach places where proper prosthetic and orthotic care is not available. The digital workflow reduces the cost of making custom devices by an order of magnitude, enabling broader reach, faster access and improved comfort. This is particularly important for children who grow quickly and need new devices every few months or years, timely access is both physically and psychologically important.

Originality/value

In this manuscript, the authors show the application of digital design techniques for fabricating prosthetic devices. The proposed workflow implements several advantageous changes and, most importantly, digitally blends the three components of a transtibial prosthesis into a single, 3D printable monocoque device. The development of a novel unibody transtibial device that is properly aligned and adjusted digitally, greatly reduces the number of visits an amputee must make to a clinic to have a certified prosthetist adjust and modify their prosthesis. The authors believe this novel workflow has the potential to ease the worldwide accessibility crisis for prostheses.

中文翻译：

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使用仿生设计工作流程实现硬壳式胫骨假体的 3D 打印

目的

全球有超过 4000 万截肢者，每年有超过 185,000 名美国人失去四肢。对于世界上大部分地区来说，假肢设备仍然过于昂贵和不舒服。本文旨在概述一个多学科研究小组取得的进展，该小组对通过可访问的下肢假肢推进人体运动的恢复感兴趣。

设计/方法/方法

定制化、舒适度和功能性是假肢师和患者报告的最重要的指标。本文的工作介绍了定制、具有成本效益和功能性的 3D 打印经胫假体单体壳设计的设计和制造。假肢的设计将 3D 成像、建模和优化技术与增材制造相结合。

发现

通过 3D 打印成功制造功能性硬壳假体表明该工作流程可能是解决全球可访问性危机的解决方案。在这项工作中开发的数字工作流程为向缺乏熟练假肢医生的农村社区提供假肢设备提供了巨大的潜力。作者发现，将工作流程与 3D 打印结合使用，这项研究可以创建定制的硬壳式假肢（图 16）。这些假肢舒适、实用且正确对齐。与传统假肢装置相比，作者将平均成本、重量和生产时间分别降低了 95%、55% 和 95%。

社会影响

这种新颖的数字设计和制造工作流程有可能使假肢设备的普及和全球普及，从而恢复患者的活动能力、生活质量和健康。LIMBER 的工具箱可以到达无法提供适当的假肢和矫形护理的地方。数字工作流程将定制设备的制造成本降低了一个数量级，从而实现更广泛的覆盖范围、更快的访问速度和更高的舒适度。这对于快速成长并且每隔几个月或几年就需要新设备的儿童尤其重要，及时访问对身体和心理都很重要。

原创性/价值

在这份手稿中，作者展示了数字设计技术在制造假肢装置中的应用。拟议的工作流程实现了几个有利的变化，最重要的是，将胫骨假体的三个组件数字化混合到一个单一的、可 3D 打印的单体壳设备中。一种新型一体式经胫骨装置的开发可以正确对齐和数字调整，大大减少了截肢者必须到诊所让经过认证的假肢师调整和修改假肢的次数。作者认为，这种新颖的工作流程有可能缓解全球假肢可及性危机。