A Tool for Monitoring Real Time Interface Stress Distributions on a Trans-Tibial Socket: A Preliminary Study

摘要

Research that has been carried out to develop methods of monitoring/quantifying the normal and shear stresses at the residual limb/socket interface has not resulted in any significant advances. However, research has highlighted the need for a new method of monitoring the stress distributions for the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the residual limb/socket interface interactions. Photoelastic analysis is a visual tool which allows real time monitoring and qualitative/quantitative assessment of the full field stress distribution in a component. This paper reports on the findings of a preliminary study to determine whether photoelastic analysis is a feasible tool for this type of application. It is concluded that photoelastic analysis is a suitable tool for assessing prosthetic comfort by monitoring the stress distribution and would produce good quality, cost effective design data.