LIMBER UniLeg: A digital and additive manufacturing approach for accessible prosthetic care.

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Summary The technology LIMBER aims to provide is an all-inclusive service that enables the rapid and scaled-up manufacturing of customized prosthetics on-demand for amputees. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that out of the tens of millions of amputees worldwide, only 5% to 15% have access to prosthetics or other assistive devices. The lack of widespread availability is because most rehabilitation devices are designed and hand-crafted by prosthetists through a complex and time-consuming process. This Phase I SBIR proposal will confirm the feasibility of LIMBER’s prosthetic design and manufacturing system that overcomes the custom-care and cost barriers by combining the latest in 3D scanning, digital design, and additive manufacturing technologies to increase the capacity of professional prosthetists and provide access to affordable and functional ‘unibody’ transtibial prosthetic limbs that are comfortable, lightweight, and automatically fabricated. LIMBER’s process leverages the structured light scanning capability embedded in smartphones to create a digital twin of an amputee from the waist down. Scanning can be accomplished in minutes by a prosthetist or trained technician, further improving efficiency and alleviating bottlenecks of the conventional process. The data is then transferred to LIMBER’s cloud, where our skilled prosthetists transform it into a personalized single-piece (socket, pylon, and ankle-foot combined) prosthetic device that is 3D printed. After working with 15 lower-limb amputees, our preliminary findings include a reduction in the average cost, weight, and time of production by 79%, 55%, and 66%, respectively.