TEXAS RESEARCH INSTITUTE , AUSTIN, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: SB151-001

Description

Despite the advancement of prosthetics design, there exists a lack of quantifiable diagnostic fitment information for assessing the characteristics of the socket-limb interface. The lack of diagnostic data yield improperly fitted, uncomfortable, and unstable sockets. Responding to the need to develop innovative diagnostic tools for socket-limb interface quantification, TRI/Austin proposes an electronic textile prosthetic sock embedded with low-profile and flexible sensors coupled with a 3D scan of the residual limb, providing visual feedback metrics to the prosthetist. The technique will discard the current method of plaster casting, which does not account for tissue compliance. Results from this program will generate a toolkit for Phase II, suitable for deployment in a prosthetists office. The toolkit will monitor tissue compliance with relation to limb geometry during the fitting process, permitting the maximum range of motion, comfort, and stability of the socket-limb interface. Part of this effort will be dedicated to optimizing the process of utilizing the feedback data from the sensors to best address the problems experienced in the field. To accomplish this, TRI/Austin will team with Bulow Orthotic & Prosthetics Solutions group in San Antonio, Texas to provide expertise in socket alignment, goodness of fit and long-term sustainability.