Design and modeling of a lower artificial limb adjustable socket.

Amputation is always considered a major health problem that causes panic and leads to body disfigurement and changes in the life and activity of amputees and their independence. The process of adaptation with prosthetic limbs is a major problem in the field of rehabilitation. Not only does it require extra effort from the patient to adapt to a new condition in terms of movement and balance, but it is also not easy to get a perfect fit between the socket and the amputated tip. The present work aims to design and manufacture a low-cost, lightweight, flexible, and highly efficient regulated lower limb prosthesis socket for a 22-year-old male weighing 78 kg. The socket recess on the leg of the amputee patient can be adjusted to be comfortable, flexible, and integrated with the details of the amputation area. The socket was designed and manufactured with the characteristics of rapid and continuous regulation to ensure a tight fit of the socket with the amputated limb. It enables the patient to quickly adapt and to ensure patient comfort during normal daily activities as well as during wearing and removing the prosthesis where the dimensions and size of the amputated leg of the patient change after the prosthesis was installed due to dynamic loads to which it was subjected. The pneumatic control system consists of the manufactured socket, the mechanism for controlling air pressure and the system of air gates were designed to adjust the socket to work with a number of mechanical stresses with variable directions to ensure the best fixation of the prosthesis, the highest comfort and to restore a large part of the daily activities lost by patients of different ages, weights, and levels of amputation in their lower limbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]