Automating the design of digitally made prostheses

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Prosthetic limbs play an important role in restoring physical function and mobility of individuals with limb-loss. While a well-designed prosthesis typically leads to successful rehabilitation, an ill-fitting one can cause discomfort and ill-function and restrict an individual's ability to conduct everyday activities. Digital workflows have the potential to greatly improve the efficiency and performance of the prosthesis building process, thus enabling access to affordable and well functioning prostheses, however several significant scientific and technological challenges must be overcome to realize clinical viability. This project aims to develop and implement data-driven algorithms to technologically advance existing digital workflows of prosthetic socket fabrication. An algorithm will be developed and trained using real-world data and evaluated against conventional methods of prosthetic socket building. The final step involves the implementation of the algorithm into existing digital workflows, namely the NiaFit Software, to make the developed technology accessible globally within prosthetic rehabilitation programs. This transformational project brings together an inter-disciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and clinicians and forms a unique and complementary partnership between the University of Toronto, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and Nia Technologies, a non-profit, to co-develop and translate the technology.