prosthesis fitting

Automatic control of prosthetic socket size for people with transtibial amputation: Implementation and Evaluation

Author(s)3: Ethan J. Weathersby, Joseph L. Garbini, Brian G. Larsen, Jake B. McLean, Andrew C. Vamos, Joan E. Sanders
Automatic control of prosthetic socket size for people with transtibial amputation: Implementation and Evaluation 170 177 IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (TBME)
People wearing a lower leg prosthesis often experience discomfort or pain during the day because of changes in socket fit. To solve this problem, we created a motor-actuated prosthetic socket that automatically maintains socket fit by continuous adjustment of the socket size. A proportional-integral (PI) control system is implemented to adjust socket size based on data collected from an inductive sensor embedded within the socket wall. The sensed distance is representative of limb-to-socket distance. Experiments on participants with transtibial limb amputation verify that the system properly maintains and responds to a change in set point to maintain socket fit. read more