Poelhekken, Keris (2018) The improvement of the ankle of an accessible, adaptive, trans-tibial, temporary prosthesis for patients in rural areas in South Africa. Bachelor's Thesis, Life Science and Technology.
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Abstract
The last years the number of people with a disability has increased, especially in developing countries like South Africa. There are a lot of people with lower limb amputations, who require rehabilitation services and a prosthesis. In South Africa, multiple factors lead to the health system being unable to provide adequate rehabilitation services and to an extremely long waiting period for prostheses of three to six years. Because of this, the people of South Africa living in rural areas become even poorer, unable to fulfil their working tasks. Next to this, the waiting period causes tissue to deteriorate, which results in misfit prostheses. These problems combined makes it very hard for people with a disability to continue their everyday lives in rural areas of South Africa. The different aspects of the problem could be solved by a temporary prosthesis designed by CoPP. The goal of this prosthesis is for people with a disability to be able to continue with their everyday lives without an increase in poverty and with a fitting prosthesis. The prosthesis prototype shows promising results. The prototype is already low- priced, available and functioning. There are two main aspects in need for improvement: the strength and the comfort. The strength can be improved by designing a stronger ankle joint. The comfort can be increased by improving the socket. With these two qualities added, the prosthesis could make it possible for people with a disability in rural areas to immediately be mobile and do their everyday jobs. The ankle of the prosthesis prototype is the core of this project. The ankle joint is of great importance, especially in developing countries. This is because the durability and aesthetics of the whole prosthesis are determined by it. The ankle and foot also provide an increase in functioning, especially on muddy uneven terrains, because it establishes knee stabilisation during a forward transfer. The current construction of the ankle joint and foot gave stability to the prosthesis, but it cracked with too much weight (more than a 100 kg), because of a low gait cycle, and was not durable enough. The requirements and wishes for improvement of the ankle and the focus for further research and design are determined. If these requirements are met and the ankle is improved, an accessible, adaptive, trans-tibial, temporary prosthesis for people living in rural areas in South Africa becomes more feasible.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis) |
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| Supervisor name: | Verkerke, G.J. and Roossien, C.C. |
| Degree programme: | Life Science and Technology |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Apr 2018 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Apr 2018 12:05 |
| URI: | https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/16671 |
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