Design and Development of A Customized Gait Assistive Device for Foot Deformity Disorders Using Optimized 3D Printing Process Parameters

Abstract

Patients with foot drop issues, walking difficulties and foot deformities are prescribed to use ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) to provide stability in walking and to decrease the load on other limb of the patients. Usually, AFOs are fabricated in conventional methods by using thermoplastic materials. Plaster casting method is the most significantly used process to manufacture AFOs. The conventional processes need more intensive labor hours but provide lower design flexibility and need more time to produce which increases waiting period. Recently, 3D printing has emerged as a potential manufacture route to address issues associated with conventional manufacturing technologies. Biomedical engineering is one such field that was benefited with the evolution of 3D printing. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is an additive manufacturing process that can produce tailor made components form a predesigned computer aided design (CAD) model. FDM can be used to fabricate AFOs with enhance performance. However, the success of FDM process depends on several parameters which are material specific, equipment specific and process specific parameters. Optimizing these process parameters is crucial in obtaining quality products from FDM process. newlineSeveral optimization techniques such as Taguchi analysis of variance (ANOVA), S/N ratio analysis, artificial neural networks, gray relation analysis etc. are a few approaches used to optimize the process parameters. Hence, fabricating AFO by FDM process essentially needs optimization of process parameters to achieve enhanced performance in the printed components. Furthermore, design and simulation by analysis software helps to assess the material behavior without physically producing the structure.