New software that personalizes prosthetic leg fittings on the basis of data from previous patients can help reduce NHS watch lists, according to a study.
The data-driven fittings for under the knee prostheses were on average as comfortable for patients as created by very competent prostheses, the NHS test suggested.
Technology developed by Radii devices and the University of Southampton hopes to halve the number of clinical visits to adjust an average of four to two using the software.
The new technology was built to offer a personalized “socket” using data from other fittings and a 3D scan of the remaining limb to immediately generate a basic design.
The CEO and founder of Radii Devices, Dr. Joshua Steer, said that analyzing hundreds of earlier sockets enabled them to “identify trends” between different patient characteristics.
“We can then scan the remaining limb of a new patient and generate a personalized design recommendation based on functions that have been successful for similar patients in the past,” he explained.
The results of an NHS test published on Friday in JMIR -Revalidation and assistive technology suggest that the new designs are on average just as comfortable as created by a prosthesist.
Nineteen sockets were made for 17 participants, because two participants were double amputants, and all bar one of the sockets was above the “NHS Comfort score target”, said the CEO of Radii Devices.
Of those 19 sockets, six of the new designs were said to be more comfortable than normal prostheses, while there were five less and eight on top of each other.
Prothetic sockets are personalized to ensure that they are comfortable and functional, because they have to wear the body weight of a person without damaging limb tissue or creating discomfort.
Traditionally, a prosthesist makes a plaster of the leg and reforms it to produce a connection that reaches the right balance, whereby trial versions are produced before they settle on a definitive setting.
Radii Devices says that the NHS is currently trying to deliver a prosthesis in four clinical visits about a month after their first appointment, while the new system can strive for a “gold standard” of two appointments.
Alex Dickinson, professor of Prothetics Engineering at the University of Southampton – who has helped to develop the new method, acknowledges that it has limits.
He said: “Only a very skilled prosthetist can identify things such as bone traces and neuromes, and know how to adjust designs to prevent pain or damage in these sensitive areas.
“We have developed the data -driven socket design approach to save the time of prostheses by giving them a solid foundation to work from, so that they can use their expertise where it is most valuable, when making precise adjustments that are tailored to the specific needs of their patients.
“The method helps prostheses to learn from each other.”
Another co-author, Professor Maggie Donovan-Hall, said it was “surprising and encouraging” that the data-driven sockets performed so well in a test that was designed as a “worst case” scenario where they received no extra input from prostheses.
Almost 100 people have now designed a prosthetic leg in this way, in several centers in the UK and the US.
The study has now moved to the final phase in which the new software is being developed alongside clinicians to see how it can best be included in their practices.
