Transparent Prosthetic Socket With Single-Pass Stiffened Walls
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional 3D printing methods for prosthetic sockets fail to produce clear and structurally sound sockets due to multiple internal layers and voids, necessitating additional hardware components for reinforcement.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a 3D printing nozzle with an enlarged nozzle face to print a solid wall perimeter in a single pass, combined with stiffener elements, ensuring clarity and structural integrity without additional support elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional 3D printing methods are used to print prosthetic sockets, then production flexibility and customization are improved, but structural strength and clarity are deteriorated due to multiple internal layers and voids
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the printing parameter from multiple-layer deposition to single-pass printing, fundamentally altering how the socket wall is formed. This parameter change eliminates internal layers and voids while maintaining the ability to customize socket geometry through digital modeling, thus resolving the contradiction between customization and structural strength
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of building up the socket wall through multiple sequential layers (conventional approach), the invention inverts the approach by forming the complete wall thickness in a single continuous pass. This inversion eliminates the internal layer structure that causes opacity and weakness, while still allowing full customization through the digital design phase
2Productivity
If conventional 3D printing methods are used to print prosthetic sockets, then production time is reduced, but additional hardware components are required for reinforcement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the structural reinforcement function into the primary printing process itself. By forming a solid wall with integrated stiffener elements in a single pass, the need for separate reinforcement hardware is eliminated. This combining of functions maintains fast production while removing the complexity of additional components
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the reinforcement requirement from the post-printing assembly stage and integrates it directly into the printing process. The stiffener elements are formed as an integral part of the socket wall during the single-pass printing, eliminating the need for separate hardware components that would otherwise need to be attached afterward
3Illumination intensity
If conventional 3D printing methods are used, then optically clear materials can be selected, but the printed socket remains opaque due to multiple internal layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the manufacturing parameter from multi-layer sequential deposition to single-pass printing, fundamentally altering the wall structure. This parameter change creates a uniform, void-free wall that allows light to pass through clearly, resolving the contradiction between material optical properties and actual socket transparency
Solution Approach 2:
The invention achieves homogeneity in the wall structure by forming it in a single continuous pass without internal layers or voids. This homogeneous structure, combined with optically clear material, enables full transparency for visual inspection, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing complexity and optical clarity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method results in a transparent prosthetic socket that allows visual inspection and immediate attachment to a pylon, eliminating the need for additional reinforcement and reducing production time and costs.
Implementation Method 1
printing a solid wall perimeter of the prosthetic socket with a width achieved in a single pass of a printing nozzle
Implementation Method 2
a nozzle face adjacent to the outlet, the nozzle face configured to physically contact a deposited printed material to disperse the deposited printing material
Data Source
AI summary
A method for 3D printing a prosthetic socket from a digital model, including printing a solid wall perimeter of the prosthetic socket with a width achieved in a single pass of a printing nozzle, and forming a plurality of stiffener elements proximate a bottom end of the prosthetic socket, as a function of the printing the solid wall perimeter, is provided. Also provided is a 3D printed prosthetic socket including an upper portion, a lower portion configured to be attached to a prosthetic pylon, and a plurality of stiffener elements radially extending from the lower portion, wherein the upper portion, the lower portion, and the plurality of stiffener elements are printed as a solid wall construction comprised of a printing material deposited using only a single pass of a printing nozzle.