Session: DAC-11-2: Engineering for Sustainable Development

Paper Number: 143214

143214 - Design of a Mass-Manufacturable Passive Prosthetic Foot 

A lack of affordable energy storage and return (ESR) prosthetic feet leads many amputees in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) to use feet with poor biomechanical performance inappropriate for their activity levels. To create better options, the GEAR Lab at MIT developed the LLTE design framework, which systematically designs ESR feet to enable replication of able-bodied gait. LLTE-optimized foot prototypes have been tested in a long-term field trial in India and in gait labs in the United States. The feet demonstrated robustness to use for activities of daily living in India, and as good or better biomechanical performance and user satisfaction compared to commercial carbon fiber feet sold in the United States. However, these prototypes were not designed to be commercial products, but rather to demonstrate the viability of the LLTE design framework. This work translates these costly proof-of-concept prototypes to affordable commercial products by making the foot mass-manufacturable and improving user satisfaction via aesthetics, coronal compliance, and a sandal toe. The keel is revised to be compatible with injection molding manufacturing constraints. It is then encased in a polyurethane foam overmold with a ruggedized sole that resembles a biological foot. Commercialization of this foot will offer amputees an affordable ESR option with improved biomechanical performance over currently available options.

Presenting Author: Autumn Geil Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Presenting Author Biography: Autumn Geil is a graduate student in the Global Engineering and Research (GEAR) Center at MIT working with Professor Amos Winter. She received her BS in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT in 2021. Before graduate school, she worked on oral drug delivery devices for two years with Drs Yuhan Lee and Jeffrey Karp at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Her research experience includes medical devices, biomaterials, and assistive technology, and she currently focuses on topology optimization for prosthetic foot design.

Authors:

Autumn Geil Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Urvaksh Irani Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Madison Reddie Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Amanda Shorter Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Amos Winter Massachusetts Institute of Technology