WO2015108407A1

WO2015108407A1 - A limb prosthesis suspension system

Info

Publication number: WO2015108407A1
Application number: PCT/MY2014/000047
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dr. Noor Azuan ABU OSMAN; Hossein GHOLIZADEH
Original assignee: Universiti Malaya
Current assignee: Universiti Malaya
Priority date: 2014-01-15
Filing date: 2014-04-02
Publication date: 2015-07-23
Anticipated expiration: 2016-07-15
Also published as: MY175668A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a limb prosthesis suspension system, comprising: a liner (11) for receiving a limb (10); a socket (12) coupled to the liner (11); and characterized by: the socket (12) including an open end (13) for receiving the liner (11); an aperture (14) on a side of said socket (12); a strap (15) coupled to the socket (12) via the aperture (14) for engaging with the liner (11); wherein the strap (15) is optionally rotatable through said apertures (14); and wherein the liner (11) and the strap (15) are provided with complementary male (17) and female (18) fastening elements.

Description

A LIMB PROSTHESIS SUSPENSION SYSTEM

Background of the Invention

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a limb prosthesis suspension system, and more particularly to a limb prosthesis suspension system including a unique socket for attaching a prosthetic limb to a limb residual of a user.

Description of Related Arts

Prosthesis is incredibly valuable to amputee as the prosthesis helps in restoring some of the capabilities lost with the amputated body portion, and assists the amputee in accomplishing most of the daily tasks. The amputation body part such as the limb amputation is often called as residual limb. Residual limbs have distinct sizes and shapes with respect to the body structure of the amputee. In order to enable the residual limb to perform the normal movement, a socket and liner are utilised in connecting the artificial limb or prosthetic limb to the residual limb. However, the intimate contact between the residual limb and the socket causes problems with comfort and control of the prosthetic limb due to the occurrence of relative movement between the residual limb and the socket.

Various prior arts over recent years have sought to restrict movement between the residual limb and the prosthetic limb by applying the socket and liner with different configuration. WO 2004/089261 A1 and U. S. Patent No. 7,771 ,487 B2 disclosed an anchoring system including a liner to envelope limb and a hard socket to receive the liner; and drainage system for prosthesis. The liner has an upper strap with a buckle and a lower strap with hook and loop sections. The lower strap extends outward through the lower socket and then inserted through the buckle on the upper strap. The distal lower end of the liner is provided with a fluid port in order to introduce a vacuum into the liner. There is a drawback of this invention whereby vacuum is required to be introduced into liner to keep the liner in placed; and therefore makes the wearing more complicated and results in high cost of manufacturing due to the extra vacuum equipment.

Another approach of using a sleeve to join the residual limb to a knee joint has been shown in U.S. Patent No. 5,653,766. Said invention also utilises a longitudinal slit along the first portion to adjust inner surface circumference; an adjustment member, preferably straps mounted on the sleeve with conventional hinges or clasps and adjustable hook and loop fabric weave; a foam pad or flap extending across the slit to avoid the gathering of patient's skin within the slit. The gap of the slit is adjustable by adjusting the length of the straps and securing the straps onto the hinges or clasps. U.S. Patent No. 6,991 ,657 B1 also disclosed a single prosthetic socket formed by combination of a cup, a brim and a lateral wall. Both of these inventions also have complicated socket configuration increasing the difficulty in donning and doffing of the limb prosthesis of a user.

Accordingly, it would therefore be desirable to provide an alternate limb prosthesis suspension system for overcoming the problems of donning and doffing the limb prosthesis existed in the prior arts. Summary of Invention

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a limb prosthesis suspension system that eases the donning and doffing of a limb prosthesis unlike prior complex suspension apparatus and techniques. It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a limb prosthesis suspension system comprises a socket with a simpler configuration that able to securely attach a limb residual and a prosthetic limb.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a limb prosthesis suspension system which can be utilised for coupling the limb prosthesis to transtibial and transfemoral amputations. Accordingly, these objectives may be achieved by following the teachings of the present invention. The present invention relates to a limb prosthesis suspension system, comprising: a liner for receiving a limb; a socket coupled to the liner; and characterized by: the socket (12) including an open end (13) for receiving the liner (11); an aperture (14) on a side of said socket (12); a strap (15) coupled to the socket (12) via the aperture (14) for engaging with the liner (1 1 ); wherein the strap ( 5) is optionally rotatable through said apertures (14); and wherein the liner (1 1) and the strap (15) are provided with complementary male (17) and female (18) fastening elements.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The features of the invention will be more readily understood and appreciated from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which:

Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a limb prosthesis suspension system of a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of a socket with a convex portion of the limb prosthesis suspension system of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the socket with a concave portion of the limb prosthesis suspension system of the first embodiment of the present invention...

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a liner comprises a male fastening element of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a strap equipped with a female fastening element of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a front view of the strap coupled to a second strap of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is an exploded view of the limb prosthesis suspension system of a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a side view of the strap of the second embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing coupling of a liner into a socket of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is cross-sectional view of an assembled limb prosthesis suspension system of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing removal of the liner from the socket of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description of the Invention

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting but merely as a basis for claims. It should be understood that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modification, equivalents and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include," "including," and "includes" mean including, but not limited to. Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one" and the word "plurality" means one or more, unless otherwise mentioned. Where the abbreviations or technical terms are used, these indicate the commonly accepted meanings as known in the technical field. For ease of reference, common reference numerals will be used throughout the figures when referring to the same or similar features common to the figures. The present invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 1-1 1.

The present invention presents a limb prosthesis suspension system, comprising: a liner (1 1) for receiving a limb (10); a socket (12) coupled to the liner (11 ); and characterized by: the socket (12) including an open end (13) for receiving the liner (11); an aperture (14) on a side of said socket (12); a strap ( 5) coupled to the socket (12) via the aperture (14) for engaging with the liner (1 1 ); wherein the strap (15) is optionally rotatable through said apertures (14); and wherein the liner (1 1 ) and the strap (15) are provided with complementary male (17) and female (18) fastening elements.

In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, the socket (12) further includes a joint (16) for mounting to a limb prosthesis.

In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, the male fastening element (17) is a hook element (17a), a unidirectional hook element (17b) or a combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, the female fastening element (18) is a loop element (18a), a unidirectional loop element (18b) or a combination thereof.

In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, the liner (11 ) is a silicone liner. In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, the socket (12) is provided with the male (17) and female (18) fastening elements on exterior of said socket (12).

In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, the socket (12) comprises two apertures (14) for receiving the strap (15) and allow said strap (15) to be rotatable through the apertures (14).

In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, the socket (12) comprises one aperture (14) for receiving the strap (15).

In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, said strap (15) comprises of a combination of hook element (17a) on a first surface and the unidirectional hook element (17b) on a second surface to secure the liner (1 1 ) therewith.

In a preferred embodiment of the limb prosthesis suspension system, the strap (15) comprises the male and female fastening elements (17 and 18) complementary to the male and female fastening elements (17 and 18) on the exterior of the liner (1 1 ), allowing said strap (15) to engage with the male and female fastening elements (17 and 18) and secure the socket (12) to the liner (1 1 ). Referring to Fig. 1 , the exploded view of the limb prosthesis suspension system of the first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Said suspension system comprises the liner (1 1 ) for receiving the limb (10), particularly a residual limb (10) of a user. The liner (1 1 ) has fastening elements preferably the male fastening element (17) on a surface of said liner (1 1 ), wherein said male fastening element (17) is the hook element (17a). In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the liner (1 1 ) is made from silicone. When the liner (1 1 ) is donned over the residual limb (10), the surface containing the male fastening element (17) faces the exterior surface of the liner (1 1 ), without contacting with the residual limb (10). A cross-sectional view of the liner (1 1 ) having the male fastening element (17) is shown in Fig. 4.

The socket (12) as shown in Fig. 1 is generally a cylindrical socket that includes the open end (13) for receiving the liner (11 ); and the pair of apertures (14a and 14b) on the side of the socket (12). In the preferred embodiment, the socket (12) comprises two pair of apertures (14a and 14b; 14c and 14d). With reference to the Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the socket includes a pair of convex portions (19) and a pair of concave portions (20) at the open end (13). Preferably, the two pair of convex portions (19) are disposed on the medial and lateral sides of the socket (12) respectively. It is further preferred that the two apertures (14a and 14b) are disposed on the lateral side, wherein another two apertures (14c and 14d) are disposed on the medial side of the socket ( 2). The pair of apertures (14a and 14b; 14c and 14d) would therefore align with the convex portions (19) of the open end (13). At a bottom end of said socket (12) includes a joint (16) for coupling to the limb prosthesis or an artificial leg.

To secure the socket (12) over the liner (1 1 ) and ensure said liner (1 1 ) fits to the residual limb (10), the strap (15) is utilised. Said strap (15) is preferably includes the female fastening element (18) complementary with the male fastening element ( 7) of the liner (11 ). The strap (15) is inserted to one of the pair of apertures (14a), preferably an upper aperture and to another aperture (14b), preferably a lower aperture, resulting said strap (15) movable and rotatable along said apertures (14a and 1 b). Likewise, another strap (15) is coupled to another pair of apertures (14c and 14d) in similar manner. A cross-sectional view of the strap (15) includes the female fastening means (18) is illustrated in Fig. 5.

The limb prosthesis suspension system of the present invention is particularly suitable to be used for transfemoral (above-knee) and transtibial (below-knee) amputation. On donning, the socket (12) equipped with the straps (15a and 15b) is received into the liner (1 1 ) that coupled with the limb prosthesis (10). Said straps (15a and 15b) move and rotate along said apertures (14a, 14b, 14c and 14d) until interior bottom of said socket (12) contact with bottom of the liner (1 1 ). Donning of said socket (12) to the liner (1 1 ) is much easier than the conventional socket as the female fastening element (18) of the strap (15) is complementary with the male fastening element ( 7) of the liner (1 1 ) and always engages with each other along movement of the strap (15), thereby secure said socket (12) to the liner (1 1 ). In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the socket (12) further comprises a second strap (21 ) affixed on exterior of the socket (12), wherein said second strap (21 ) also includes the female fastening means (18). An socket enclosure equipped with the male fastening element (17) is then covered the second strap (21 ) and the straps (15a and 15b) to further tighten up and secure the socket ( 2) in position.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the liner (1 1 ) is made from a fabric or a foam material. The liner (1 1 ) made from said material acts as the male fastening element (17) and engages with the complementary female fastening element (18) equipped on the strap (15). For doffing, the socket enclosure is easily removed by pulling apart said socket ( 2) enclosure from the second strap (21 ) of the socket (12). The socket (12) is then being pulled away from the liner (11) and detached from the liner (1 1) followed by removing the liner (1 1 ) from the residual limb (10). The configuration of said limb prosthesis suspension system reduces time and energy consumption during donning and doffing of the limb prosthesis from the residual limb (10). Besides that, said configuration also provides a strong engagement between the socket (12) and the liner (1 1 ), preventing the socket (12) from easily drop off from the liner (1 1 ). Figs. 7-1 1 illustrate the limb prosthesis system of a second embodiment of the present invention, which also comprises the socket (12) including the aperture ( 4) and the strap (15) coupled to the socket (12) via said aperture (14). In said second embodiment, the socket comprises one aperture (14) at each side, preferably aligns with the convex portion (19) of the socket. As can be seen in Fig. 8, the strap (15) is preferably comprises a combination of the hook element (17a) on first surface of the strap (15) and unidirectional hook element (17b) on second surface of the strap (15). The exterior of the socket is provided with a female fastening element (18), preferably a loop element (18a). For donning, the strap (15) is first coupled to the socket (12) by looping over the strap (15) via the aperture (14) and engaged with the female fastening element (18) on the exterior of the socket. In said configuration, each of the unidirectional hook elements (17b) is positioned at interior of the socket (12) facing each other for coupling with the liner (1 1 ). The liner (1 1 ) further comprises a female fastening element (18), preferably the loop element (18a) or the unidirectional loop element (18b). After coupling the liner (1 1 ) into the interior of the socket (12) via the open end (13), the female fastening element (18) of the liner (1 1 ) will engage with the unidirectional hook element (17b) and secured the liner (11) therewith. The liner (11 ) is only allowed to be pull downward but not pull outward, therefore said liner (11) can be held tight with the socket (12). For doffing as illustrated in Fig. 1 1 , the strap (15) engaged to the exterior of the socket (12), particularly the hook element (17a) of the strap (15), is pulled away from the socket (12) followed by removing the liner (1 1 ) from the socket (12). The strap (15) is then pulling out along with the liner (11) via the aperture (14). After separating the liner (11) from the socket ( 2), the strap (15) is removed from the liner (11) by pulling out said strap (15).

Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, also shown in the appended figures, it will be apparent for those skilled in the art that many variations and modifications can be done within the scope of the invention as described in the specification and defined in the following claims.

Description of the reference numerals used in the accompanying drawings according to the present invention:

Reference Numerals Description

10 Limb

11 Liner

12 Socket

13 Open end of the socket

14, 14a, 14b, 14c and 14d Aperture on the socket

15, 15a and 15b Strap

16 Joint

17 Male fastening element

17a Hook element

17b Unidirectional hook element Female fastening elementa Loop element

b Unidirectional loop element

Convex portion of the socket

Concave portion of the socket

Second strap

Claims

A limb prosthesis suspension system, comprising:

a liner (11 ) for receiving a limb (10);

a socket (12) coupled to the liner (1 1 );

and characterized by:

the socket (12) including an open end (13) for receiving the liner (11 ); an aperture (14) on a side of said socket (12); a strap (15) coupled to the socket (12) via the aperture (14) for engaging with the liner (11 );

wherein the strap ( 5) is optionally rotatable through said apertures (14); and

wherein the liner (11) and the strap (15) are provided with complementary male (17) and female (18) fastening elements.

A limb prosthesis suspension system according to claim 1 , wherein the socket (12) further includes a joint (16) for mounting to a limb prosthesis.

A limb prosthesis suspension system according to claim 1 , wherein the male fastening element (17) is a hook element (17a), a unidirectional hook element (17b) or a combination thereof.

A limb prosthesis suspension system according to claim 1 , wherein the female fastening element (18) is a loop element (18a), a unidirectional loop element (18b) or a combination thereof.

A limb prosthesis suspension system according to claim 1 , wherein the socket (12) is provided with the male (17) and female (18) fastening elements on exterior of said socket (12). A limb prosthesis suspension system according to claim 1 , wherein the socket (12) comprises two apertures (14) for receiving the strap (15) and allow said strap (15) to be rotatable through the apertures (14).

A limb prosthesis suspension system according to claim 1 , wherein the socket (12) comprises one aperture (14) for receiving the strap ( 5).

A limb prosthesis suspension system according to claim 7, wherein said strap (15) comprises of a combination of male fastening element on a first surface and the unidirectional male fastening element on a second surface to secure the liner (1 1 ) therewith.