Project description

In this project, we will develop an innovative tool for prosthetists to optimize the configuration and alignment of lower leg prostheses, starting from the individual demands of the prosthetic user.

This tool will meet the wishes of the prosthetists, who are today only able to rely on their own experience and expertise. It takes years to build up this experience empirically, and this leads to loss of efficiency for the company on the one hand, and a great variation in quality and care for the individual prosthetist on the other hand. There is a need for a tool that, apart from systematics, also enables uniformity and constant quality in the configuration and alignment of lower leg prostheses. At the same time, this system will provide direct benefits for the patient as well.
The combination of up-to-date techniques in gait simulation and modeling and knowledge and experience to optimize and objectify the dynamic alignment of lower leg prostheses is innovative. After all, the current methods are based on a static basic alignment that does not take into account the individual comfort of the patient. Adjusting the prosthesis is done visually, based on trial and error and on the patient’s feedback during a gait test. This leads to a time-consuming and exhausting activity for both the prosthetist and the user of the prosthesis.

By means of recent new developments in robotic gait simulation, the influence of the configuration and alignment of the prosthesis on the comfort of the patient will be mapped out. This data will be translated in an algorithm after verification with existing gait analyses. This algorithm will be converted into a usable method as a tool for the prosthetist. The (future) field will be familiarized with this new method by means of workshops.

The execution of the TICOON project will lead to the improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of the services a prosthetist has to deliver and will improve the quality of life of the prosthetic user. Apart from this, it will provide technology companies with a new dimension in patient oriented developments through new insights in the configuration and alignment of prostheses.

The innovative development of knowledge also provides new perspectives for the practical support of the rehabilitation process of the patient by various disciplines in the rehabilitation centers.
In addition, the results are of great importance for education in the following disciplines: orthopedic technology, engineer in industrial sciences (biomedical technology), enterprise management, automation and electro mechanics. The methods, as well as the results, will be integrated in education via internships, theses, projects and courses.