Date of Award

Summer 8-18-2023

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Engineering

Advisor

David J. Neivandt

Second Committee Member

Senthil Vel

Third Committee Member

Michael Mason

Abstract

Amputations are quite common and even modern prosthetic devices are plagued by problems. There are approximately 2 million people living with limb loss in the U.S. and on average 185,000 amputations occur yearly. Common attachment mechanisms for external prosthetic components to a residual limb, that is, sockets, pose numerous challenges. Issues include skin irritation, discomfort, socket fit issues, and immobility. Issues include skin irritation, discomfort, socket fit issues, and immobility. Transcutaneous implants have great potential as a connection method for external prosthetic components to a residual limb but because the implants are typically solid, they correlate to extremely high infection rates at the skin interface. Only one such system is FDA-approved but is inadequate due to its corresponding high infection rates and suboptimal fail-safe mechanism. Highly porous transcutaneous technology potentially offers a solution to this problem via providing a permanent mounting point that bridges the skin and soft tissues while being anchored in the bone. However, a porous metal transcutaneous implant cannot be properly employed until a highly effective safety mechanism is engineered that prevents damage to the residual bone of the user when accidental loads are applied. Existing products on the market lack optimized fail-safe devices. A fail-safe mechanism is essential to release the prosthesis in both falls and more extreme circumstances, such as the device becoming caught, to prevent injury to the prosthetic device and the user’s residual skeleton and surrounding tissues. Hence, the present work, including manual calculations, finite element analysis, and mechanical testing, was undertaken to develop an optimized fail-safe mechanism to be incorporated into a porous metal transcutaneous implant system.

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