An alignment tool for prosthetic components : A conceptual development

Abstract: Prosthetic alignment is the principle of the position and orientation and of the components in a lower limb prosthesis to achieve desirable biomechanical characteristics. Poor alignment of lower limb prostheses is related to decreased balance, knee and hip arthritis, and higher energy expenditure for the user. Clinicians, the prosthetists, have declared they need better tools and increased knowledge in how to perform lower limb prosthetic alignments. Therefore, the aim was to develop a tool concept for clinicians to use in the prosthetic alignment process. This thesis mapped out most of the variables a clinician must consider in the alignment process, identified the clinicians needs of an alignment tool, and screened the market for existing solutions. A systematic approach was applied to develop a conceptual tool from the gathered information. The needs of the customer were based on interviews with clinicians and competing products were benchmarked. Two different conceptual tools were developed, tested with clinicians with promising results, and presented in this thesis. Due to confidentiality agreements with the cooperating company, the designs and functions of the final concepts cannot be shown in the report and are therefore covered in the publication.