Prediction Of Prosthetic Socket Fit Of Trans-Tibial Amputee With The Aid Of Computational Modeling

This study aims to investigate the pain-pressure relationship of the residual limb and the interface pressure at the prosthetic socket-residual limb interface during walking. Load was indented to different regions of the residual limb through Pelite and polypropylene indenters connected to a force transducer until pain was just perceived. A finite element (FE) model was built simulating the indentation process to evaluate the pressure distribution beneath the indenter upon indentation. Results suggested that pain is triggered when the applied peak pressure overshot a certain threshold. A second FE model was built to predict the socket-limb interface pressure, considering friction/slip and pre-stress produced by donning the limb into a shape-modified socket which were commonly ignored in previous models under simplifying assumptions. The predicted interface pressure was in the range of previous clinical pressure measurement and was below the thresholds causing pain. In future investigations, more subjects will be involved for the pain-pressure relationship and more analysis on interface pressure under different conditions, such as alignment, walking speed and style, will be performed