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Category: Prosthetics

Real-Time Prosthetic Socket Monitoring Device

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---- PROTOTYPE --------- PURPOSE: To create a prototype of a real-time prosthetic socket monitoring device for individuals with lower limb disabilities and/or amputation. University of Washington (UW) engineers have developed a device that tracks how much a person's limb swells and shrinks when inside a prosthetic socket. The portable real-time prosthetic socket monitoring device measures the percentage increase or decrease of fluid volume in the prosthetic user's limb by receiving data from small electrodes placed in different spots on the leg. The instrument's electronics can be worn in a fanny pack and include a circuit board that calculates the fluid volume change in the leg tissues, a transmitter to send the data wirelessly to a computer, and memory to store the data on the device. This prototype is a checkbook-sized portable version and has been tested in clinics in Seattle and San Francisco. During device testing, researchers asked users to go through a routine that included sitting, standing and walking as the device recorded fluid volume changes in the limb. In the UW lab, lower limb prosthetic users did a series of 90-second exercises while wearing the portable device. Data was transmitted wirelessly to a tablet that displayed the changes in limb size about 15 times a second. This research data will help doctors to predict how a prosthetic user's limb will swell, thereby leading to the design and construction of better sockets. AUTHOR: Michelle Ma. TITLE: Pain of artificial legs could be eased by real-time monitoring. WEBSITE: University of Washington, UW Today, Office of News and Information. REF: http://www.washington.edu/news/2013/07/23/pain-of-artificial-legs-could-....

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as of: 
09/23/2013
Real-Time Prosthetic Socket Monitoring Device