Medical imaging generated dynamic prosthetic sockets

The Medical Imaging Generate Dynamic Prosthetic Socket project was an ambitious 2 year effort which aimed to develop a system that would allow for direct MRI scanning of residual limbs to generate prosthetic sockets that were based upon the underlying anatomical structures whilst assessing the pressures these sockets would impose upon the residual limbs through finite element analysis. Socket and Finite Element Analysis. Validation of the finite element analysis required that the assumptions made for pressure in the socket be tested and confirmed. This step proved to be the most challenging due to the absence of an accurate and consistent pressure measurement system. Because we were ultimately unable to obtain in-socket pressure measurement data, the socket iteration task was not completed. This project, however, was successful in a number ways. The fabrication method of the non-deformational shell was completed and tested. Many protocols for RL scanning were investigated and settings were optimized for obtaining scans for both transtibial amputations and transfemoral amputations which then facilitated residual limb segmentation. The process for segmentation proved to be cumbersome and difficult to achieve without significant experience on the part of the person performing this task. Automated segmentation is still not developed to the point where this process if feasible in clinical practice. Once the arduous process of segmentation was completed, the residual limb modeling allowed for the prosthetist to ―look into‖ a residual limb for the first time ever. This allowed for precise modifications of the anatomical structures but emphasized how little we know about how to load and relieve these anatomical structures. The process 3 of transferring the residual limb data between multiple software programs (MIMICS, 3-MATIC, ABAQUS & CANFIT) was cumbersome and required creative work around solutions in order to maintain data fidelity while allowing the job of each software program to be completed. Once the rectified model was completed, the answer to how the anatomical structures could be loaded and relieved was to be solved by the finite element modeling (FEA). The FEA process also required an extensive amount of time and expertise on the part of the research however in the end; the process was established and refined, resulting in a straight forward method to perform FEA on sockets including donning, static standing and single limb support. We were not able to establish the ability to generate residual limb pressures and stresses in a dynamic state. It was at …