Author(s): Gaspar, Marcelo ; Ferraz, Miguel ; Ramalho, Armando ; Vasco, Joel ; Capela, Carlos
Date: 2023
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/9194
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco
Subject(s): Additive manufacturing; Customization; Biomechanics; Ecodesign; Sustainability
Additive manufacturing is a key technology for the digital production of customized prostheses and orthoses. Considering that such assistive devices can be designed to meet specific biomechanical needs based on the actual contours of the patients’ limbs, the ability of those having physical disabilities being able to produce their custom prostheses and orthoses at home would be groundbreaking, by current standards. To such an end, this research aims at selecting sustainable biopolymers that can be used as filaments to produce customized prosthetic sockets using low-cost additive manufacturing technology. Special focus was put into characterizing the use of recycled PLA reinforced with short carbon fibers as filaments for additive manufacturing. Numerical simulation results showed the potential of this sustainable material combination as an ecodesign solution for customized prostheses and orthoses. Such a solution should allow for patients being able to successfully produce and assemble their own customized assistive devices using fused deposition modelling.
