Finite element analysis of donning procedure of a prosthetic transfemoral socket

Lower limb amputation is a severe psychological and physical event in a patient. A prosthetic solution can be provided but should respond to a patient-specific need to accommodate for the geometrical and biomechanical specificities. A new approach to calculate the stress-strain state at the interaction between the socket and the stump of five transfemoral amputees is presented. In this study the socket donning procedure is modeled using an explicit finite element method based on the patient-specific geometry obtained from CT and laser scan data. Over stumps the mean maximum pressure is 4 kPa (SD 1.7) and the mean maximum shear stresses are 1.4 kPa (SD 0.6) and 0.6 kPa (SD 0.3) in longitudinal and circumferential directions, respectively. Locations of the maximum values are according to pressure zones at the sockets. The stress-strain states obtained in this study can be considered more reliable than others, since there are normal and tangential stresses associated to the socket donning procedure.