White paper | Prosthetic socket testing
Carbon fiber vs. printed with HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) technology and HP 3D High Reusability (HR) PA12 material
About the study:
Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to revolutionize the orthotic and prosthetic fabrication process by improving personal customization capabilities, reducing manufacturing time and waste, and ultimately, resulting in better overall outcomes. Several trials have been conducted in fabricating prostheses and orthoses using AM technology. However, there is a research gap in completed studies that test lower limb prosthetic sockets. This whitepaper study sought to highlight the significance of investigating the upper-bound mechanical test data limits for lower-limb prosthetic sockets, using AM technology.
In this context, HP aims to answer the following research questions:
- Is an additively manufactured socket printed with the HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 Printing Solution and HP 3D HR PA12 material comparable to a conventionally manufactured carbon fiber socket?
- How can we determine and test if a socket printed with HP MJF technology is better or worse than a socket fabricated using traditional techniques?
- Can HP predict how and where a printed socket might fail?