Our Senior Project is to develop a low-cost prosthetic leg kit that can be deployed and fit to patients in low-resource settings. This project is unique in that many of the parts are pre-manufactured into a 'kit-able' parts and then interfaced to parts that are patient specific, like the socket. This combination of pre-manufactured parts and patient specific care lowers the cost of a patient getting prosthetic leg relative to the traditional prosthetic fitting process.

My specific area of focus is in creating an adjustable prosthetic socket. Traditional sockets are rigid and can be uncomfortable if the limb volume changes due to heat and use throughout the day. Additionally, the traditional socket creation process requires an individual plaster cast of the patients limb. Creating the plaster cast is messy, difficult, and temporary - the patient's limb may change by the next prosthetic fitting, rendering the old plaster cast invalid. The design I am working on is part of a two-part system, consisting of an inner-liner that forms to the patient's limb and then slides into the hard, plastic socket. The plastic socket is pre-manufactured and able to be adjusted to each patient. It can also be adjusted with a ratcheting mechanisms, allowing patients to tighten or loosen the socket for increased comfort.

Other than the socket, I am involved in developing manufacturing processes for the components, which include CNC machining and thermoforming in addition to material selection, prototyping, and design optimization.