Colorimetric analysis of silicone cosmetic prostheses for upper-limb amputees

Every year the Italian National Insurance Institute of Accidents on Work (INAIL) Prosthesis Centre manufactures more than 300 silicone cosmetic upper-limb prostheses that are aesthetically similar to patients' missing limbs; however, the prostheses have the following drawbacks: subjectivity in color choice, high production costs, and long time frames for patient tests and prosthesis production. In an attempt to minimize these factors, we performed a study to test various systems that automatically detect the color of human skin. Such a system would allow us to reproduce a patient's exact skin color for silicone cosmetic prostheses. We analyzed the color identification systems available on the market and assessed the possibility of introducing such a system into the production cycle of the prostheses. We found that because of intrinsic factors of the materials, automatic color detection for prosthesis production is complex. Therefore, any of the systems we tested will require further development for full satisfaction of the needs of prostheses manufacturers.