AirLeg

AirLeg is a project that was born during ETH Week 2021 and came to life trought the SPH hatschery program. The team is composed by Michelangelo (medical technology), Sebastian (computer science) and Justyna (physics). Together we want to solve the issue that current prosthetic sockets are undynamic and do not adapt to volume fluctuation of the residual limb. AirLeg has the goal to develop a platform that enables amputees in need to have access to a personalized dynamic prosthetic socket. Therefore, we aim to enhance comfortability, while improving affordability and accessibility of prosthetic sockets. To achieve this we exploit smartphone-performed photogrammetry and low-budget FDM 3D printing.Our current approach is to manually modifiy 3D scans from the residual limb to model the prosthetic socket. Yet, we are aspiring toward AI-based automatic modelling of the socket geometry from 3D scan data.To date, we built the first prototype of a functional, low-cost 3D printed lower limb prosthetic socket that is compatible with conventional prosthetic attachment system. Our next step is to implement a 3D printable pneumatic/hydraulic system able to automatically adapt and compensate for volumetric fluctuation of the stump.