Development and optimization of a suspension system for lower limbs prostheses

Abstract

The increasing rate of amputations reinforce the need to improve the prostheses currently on the market and develop new solutions, to provide a better quality of life for the amputees. The suspension systems have a fundamental role in adapting to the prosthesis and amputee’s rehabilitation. These systems guarantee a firm attachment between the residual limb and prosthesis. The suspension systems available in the currently market, do not provide the quality of life that the lower limb amputees deserve, since do not ensure the total safety and comfort enough to use the prosthesis in long term. These limitations are associated with the difficulties on donning and doffing the prosthesis. This dissertation proposes a novel approach to solve some of these limitations. The proposed suspension system was obtained following the Design methodology, to understand the amputees’ needs, define the statement-problem, create several alternative solutions, and prototyping and testing the selected solution. The new suspension system is a combination of a guiding and fixation mechanisms, that improves the donning and doffing of prosthesis and, consequently, increases the amputee’s satisfaction. Motion analysis, safety and functional tests were done to evaluate the performance of the prototype and ensure that the proposed solution is viable and follows all the requirements and specifications stablished. Due to some technical issues, it was not possible to test all the functionalities of the prototype of the suspension system. However, the proposed suspension system presented an effective fixation of the serrated pin. Additional tests are still needed to evaluate the proposed system with the intention of being tested on amputees. In short, the new suspension system is a good alternative system to improve the life quality of amputees with lower activity level on the daily basis. With this dissertation, were published abstract for the Regional HELIX'17 conference and a paper for the International Journal of Mechatronics and Applied Mechanics, and a paper for the ICEUBI 2017 conference.