Amputation is one of the major causes of disability. Sockets are the important prosthesis components and physical interface to integrate the prosthetic limbs mechanically with the amputee's residual limb to replace lost function. Objective monitoring of the inner socket environment (i.e. pressure, temperature, and humidity) and residual muscle activity during daily prosthesis use requires flexible, unobtrusive and multi-modal sensors that can be integrated into the socket structure without causing subject discomfort. The lack of such an inner-socket sensor technology has been a long-standing problem for evaluating the prosthesis socket, preventing the complications elicited by poor socket design and fit, and advancing the socket technologies. Therefore, advanced socket technologies are urgently needed and will be developed under this project to significantly reduce the number of clinic visits, lower the healthcare costs for amputees, and ultimately improve their quality of life. The impacts of this project will reach far beyond the immediate scientific and engineering contributions that result from it. The use of technologies to further understand the capability of textiles as sensing elements; to design novel systems to monitor the health; and to increase comfort and gait function of amputees in new ways, all provide priceless opportunities to motivate and educate younger generations, their educators and the public-at-large towards the future advancements in manufacturing and biomedical sensing innovation.
This project aims to develop a novel Flexible InneR-socket Sensing Technology (FIRST) to be seamlessly, unobtrusively, and elegantly integrated into the lower-limb prosthesis socket. FIRST is based on an electronic-fabric structure where the fibers of the fabric act as sensory elements and could simultaneously track tactile forces, moisture/wetness, electromyography and body temperature at multiple sensing points around the residual limb. In particular, the focus of this project is to enable these soft textile-based sensors to address the relevant challenges in the context of wireless inner socket environment monitoring.The major challenge and overarching objective of this research is to develop a fundamental understanding of the coupling and interaction between multi-component fiber cross-sectional architecture, fabric structure, and its electro-mechanical response to achieve a multimodal sensor that can be unobtrusively integrated into 'textile-based' sensory devices in general. We will evaluate the multiple sensing capabilities of FIRST on patients with lower limb amputations inside and outside of a laboratory environment. The interpretation of FIRST data would identify locations of skin problems to enable patient-self management and allow for a more objective clinical evaluation to avoid the occurrence of potential skin breakdown and the resulting complications.
