PI: Alexandra Ion
Co-PI(s): Douglas Weber
University: Carnegie Mellon University
Industry partner: Human Motion Technologies LLC (Humotech)
Approximately two million people are living with limb loss in the United States and another 150,000 lower extremity amputations are performed every year [1]. Matching suitable prosthetic limbs is difficult yet extremely important, as a sup-par match negatively impacts patients’ daily lives for years. Going beyond standard in-office assessments and patients’ self-assessments, clinicians often seek to include trial periods with specific prostheses models before settling on a match. However, they face prohibitive difficulties because prosthetic feet are expensive (starting at ~$4000) and returns and maintenance are challenging. We propose a novel design for prosthetic feet that are easy to manufacture resulting in low-cost (approx. ~$100) prosthetic feet for testing at home. PITA funding would allow us to build design software to generate trial prostheses that imitate the mechanical properties of commercial prostheses. Our prosthetic design relies on computing smoothly pleating sheet materials to vary stiffness locally. Since the structures only require cutting and bending, the manufacturing costs remain low. The expected outcome of this project is several demonstrators of such trial prostheses generated with our custom design tool developed during this project. Providing a much-needed update to the prosthesis matching process will have a deep impact on patients’ lives and strengthen Pennsylvania’s lead position in innovative healthcare.