The 2017 ANMS-ISPO Encouragement Award provided the second best ranked application presented by Lauren Kark, Ginu Rajan, Lucy Armitage and Gangadhara Prusty from the University of the New South Wales. This team has received $10,000 for a year to work of a project about clinical utility of a novel residuum-socket interface sensor for normal and shear stress measurement..
About the project
The interface between the residual limb of a person with an amputation and their prosthetic limb occurs, most commonly, via an external socket. Prosthetic fit is vital for comfortable and safe transfer of load between the person’s residual limb and the prosthesis. Complications associated with fit are common and can vary from mild discomfort through to serious skin breakdown and infections.
The effects of normal pressure (squashing) and shear stress (sliding) on the soft tissue of the residual limb whilst it is in the prosthetic socket are currently poorly understood. These loadings can alter skin health and may contribute to complications associated with poor prosthetic fit. Insight into the forces acting at this interface will inform prosthetic prescription to minimise these complications.
The investigators have developed a prototype of a sensor that can measure normal pressure and shear stress at the interface between the socket and the residual limb without needing to alter socket geometry. This project will explore use of the sensor in the clinical setting to measure the loads acting at meaningful points on the limb to better inform prosthetic prescription.
Meet the team of investigators
