Digital healthcare technologies: Modern tools to transform prosthetic care

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ABSTRACT

Introduction

Digital healthcare technologies are transforming the face of prosthetic care. Millions of people with limb loss around the world do not have access to any form of rehabilitative healthcare. However, digital technologies provide a promising solution to augment the range and efficiency of prosthetists.

Areas Covered

The goal of this review is to introduce the digital technologies that have the potential to change clinical methods in prosthetic healthcare. Our target audience are researchers who are unfamiliar with the field of prostheses in general, especially with the newest technological developments. This review addresses technologies for: scanning of amputated limbs, limb-to-socket rectification, additive manufacturing of prosthetic sockets, and quantifying patient response to wearing sockets. This review does not address biomechatronic prostheses or biomechanical design practices.

Expert Opinion

Digital technologies will enable affordable prostheses to be built on a scale larger than with today’s clinical practices. Large technological gaps need to be overcome to enable the mass production and distribution of prostheses digitally. However, recent advances in computational methods and CAD/CAM technologies are bridging this gap faster than ever before. We foresee that these technologies will return mobility and economic opportunity to amputees on a global scale in the near future.

KEYWORDS:

• Prostheses
• Telemedicine
• CAD/CAM
• Additive Manufacturing
• 3D Scanning
• Virtual Design Workflow

Article Highlights

• Metasummary: This review provides a general overview of digital technological facets changing prosthetic health care.

• Limb Scanning: There are many technologies available for scanning amputated limbs, but no one technology can be used in all situations. The most effective modality depends on the expected clinical intervention or research question.

• Limb Rectification: Limb rectification software for designing prostheses is rapidly advancing. The future of these technologies is headed toward delivering individualized socket designs automatically.

• Additive Manufacturing: Additive manufacturing simplifies the process for producing custom prosthetic sockets. These technologies are reaching a maturity to be seriously utilized if concerns about strength limitations can be addressed.

• Patient Response: Many interesting digital technologies are capable of quantifying, simulating, and tracking patient response. These tools can improve prosthetic socket design and clinical rehabilitation efforts.

Acknowledgments

Joanna McKittrick passed away before submission of the final version of this manuscript. The corresponding author, Isaac Cabrera, accepts responsibility for the integrity and validity of the data collected and analyzed. Professor McKittrick was an expert engineer and a compassionate advisor who advocated for engaging women and minority students in the STEM fields. Her kindness extended to the entire UC San Diego community. The authors would like to thank her for years of collaboration, support, and mentorship.

The authors also wish to thank Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti (Jaipur Foot) for allowing the authors to document and study their prosthetic manufacturing technology. Finally, the authors would like to thank the students involved on the Project Lim(b)itless team for their incredible energy, support, and positivity on this research journey.

Declaration of Interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by the Benbough Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, UC San Diego Graduate Division, UCSD Center for Human Frontiers, and the Qualcomm Institute at UCSD.