Abstract:
Interest in the application of CAD/CAM to the manufacture of prostheses has existed since the early '70s, however the primary growth in this area has occurred since mid '80s CAD/CAM has been looked upon to supplant both the fitting and production stages for prostheses, and although numerous attempts have been made, to date the results clinically have been inconclusive.
The introduction of CAD/CAM requires a digital shape representation to available to the computer for analysis, modification, and production. The data must be available in a logical ordered format. The 'front end' to the prosthesis design is conventionally provided by plaster wraps of the residual limb, followed by positive production and socket molding.
The use of laser scantling to obtain surface data is not new in the field of prosthetics. However, work to date has focused on the lower limb, with little attention given to the upper extremity. In a clinical study CAD/CAM usage was 89% lower limb, with 76% BK cases, and only 4%
upper limb. Seven percent was listed as other, presumably the foot. This disparity is reflected in the research efforts accorded to each area. The focus of the current work is in CAD/CAM applications for the production of upper extremity sockets. Specificaly, the use of laser scanning for the extraction of residual limb shapes will be discussed.
