Development of software to estimate pressures on the residual limbs of amputees by means of a pylon mounted transducer

The alignment of prosthesis has been recognized as one of the main factors that determine successful prosthetic outcomes for trans-tibial amputees. Alignment is defined as the relative position and orientation of the prosthetic components. Misalignment can result in changes in the position and orientation of the joints of the leg and moments experienced by them during gait, increases in energy use, and discomfort or even tissue breakdown at the socket/stump interface. Hence it is very important to align the prosthesis in correct manner. Gait analysis can be used to examine the effects of incorrect alignment of the prosthesis during gait. Gait analysis studies involve continuous curves of data measured over a gait cycle. The data may include ground reaction force, and the kinematic and kinetic properties of the ankle, knee, and hip joints (angles, angular velocities and accelerations, moments and powers). The objective of this thesis is to develop software that allows a tri-axial transducer to be utilized in a clinical setting to measure the forces and moments that are transmitted from the foot through the pylon to the socket and the residual limb. By placing a transducer on the pylon at the base of a socket, the forces and moments that are directed into the socket can be measured. It can be hypothesized that this information can be used to estimate the intra-socket pressures that occur between the walls of the socket and the residual limb (1). If alignment of the components is altered, then data from transducer can be used to determine if the forces, moments, loading rates, and impulse transmitted to the residual limb inside the socket change. A means would then exist for measuring the effect that different alignments might have on the residual limb