DESIGN PROCEDURE AND ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF TRANSFEMORAL PROSTHETIC SOCKET

• Main Author: Ambarsari Arya Putri, Belinda
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/68928
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

There are many disabled people who are in need of affordable transfemoral sockets to connect their limbs to the rest of their legs. However, these sockets are still made using the conventional method. With the rise of additive manufacturing as a modern form of manufacturing, universities all around the world has started using this method to create lower-limb socket. There are many reasons why 3D printing method has advantages over casting method, which are that the former can save both time and costs. In this bachelor thesis, a procedure is developed to design and manufacture a transfemoral socket using additive manufacturing method and check whether this method does have the aforementioned benefits. The study began with the design process. The design process includes stump scanning, modeling, stump model validation, socket modeling, and socket model validation. Due to the 3D printer not capable to print a single socket all at once, further steps were added such as socket model separation into two halves and adding overlap layer on the bottom socket. Lastly, the socket model is sent to a 3D slicer to be printed and the two halves of the socket are joined by cyanoacrylate. The outcome of this bachelor thesis is a 3D printed transfemoral socket along with a documented procedure of its design and manufacturing process. This socket took 51 hours and 15 minutes to make and cost only Rp.151,000 to make. This research has successfully proven that sockets that are made with additive manufacturing method are cheaper and faster to make than their conventional counterparts. For further research, optimization of design and slicer settings as well as strength testing could be done to improve the socket design.