Development of continuous fiber reinforced prosthetic running blades for young children

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Young Lower limb amputees (LLA) commonly wear prosthetic running blades to participate in sports Unfortunately, running blades are often fabricated with high-performance carbon fiber composites and can be prohibitively expensive. As a result, young children with LLA are further disadvantaged due to the high cost of these prosthetics. In this work, our team aims to lower young children barriers to entry by producing low-cost prosthetic running blades. To achieve this, our team will utilize a continuous fiber-reinforced 3D printing technology to produce low-cost but high-quality prosthetic running blades. Our team will first design and fabricate new prosthetic running blades using the continuous fiber reinforced 3D printing method. The produced prosthetics will then be evaluated through mechanical testing and compared against commercially available running blades. Next, our team will develop an automated tool that will configure new patient-specific running blades based on measurements of the LLA. The automated software tool will allow for rapid manufacturing of running blades based on patient-specific requirements.