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

摘要 LIMBER致力于提供全方位的服务，使快速和规模化的制造成为可能 按需为截肢者定制假肢。世界卫生组织(WHO)估计，在数十个 全世界数以百万计的截肢者，只有5%到15%能够获得假肢或其他辅助设备。缺乏 广泛使用是因为大多数康复装置都是由假肢医生通过一种 过程复杂耗时。 这项第一阶段SBIR提案将确认LIMBER假肢设计和制造系统的可行性，该系统 通过结合最新的3D扫描、数字设计和附加功能，克服定制护理和成本障碍 制造技术，以增加专业修复师的能力，并提供负担得起的和 功能‘一体式’经胫骨假肢，舒适，重量轻，并自动制造。 Limber的过程利用智能手机中嵌入的结构光扫描功能来创建数字孪生兄弟 腰部以下的截肢者。扫描可以由修复师或训练有素的技术人员在几分钟内完成，此外 提高效率，缓解传统工艺的瓶颈。然后将数据传输到LIMBER 云，我们熟练的修复师将其转变为个性化的单件(插座、塔架和脚踝组合) 3D打印的假肢设备。在与15名下肢截肢者合作后，我们的初步发现包括 平均成本、重量和生产时间分别降低79%、55%和66%。

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.