A Smart Prosthesis Socket Liner to Address Factors That Lead to Prosthesis Abandonment

The development and characterization of the smart prosthesis socket liner, a soft-robotic prosthesis liner, was presented. This novel robotic system was intended to improve the quality of life for transradial amputees and strived to decrease the rate of prosthesis abandonment. This novel socket liner used closed-loop pneumatic control systems to regulate the fit of the human-socket interface and accommodate residual-limb volume fluctuations. Multiple real-time classification algorithms were developed to prescribe the desired fit of the pneumatic control system depending on user activity. The inputs for the classifiers were a fusion of data from two inertial measurement units and the state changes of the soft-pneumatic actuators. The classifiers sorted the input features into three categories of upper-extremity activities and prescribed the desired fit of the liner. Additional flexible fabric-based heat-dissipation and interface layers were implemented into the liner system to remove heat from the human-socket interface and measure the temperature of the interface. The heat-dissipation subsystem used a closed-loop water cycle to extract and dissipate heat outside the human-socket interface. These subsystems simultaneously perform their respective goals in the single integrated soft-robotic system. Lastly, the mechanical impedance of the interface between this soft-robotic system and the user was characterized. The effects this mechanical impedance may have on users' ability to track moving targets was discussed. To demonstrate the generalizability of the technology integrated into this novel robotic socket liner, a summary of the ventilation-perfusion vest was discussed. The vest was applied to patients suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by COVID-19. The vest was shown to improve the oxygenation of these patients.

Date

2024-07-17

Resource Type

Text

Resource Subtype

Dissertation

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