Prosthetic design
Super-able by design?
Fourth year student Robyn Hamilton StudIED suggests putting design skills to good use in the field of prosthetics.
South African sprint runner Oscar Pistorious – also known as Blade Runner – claims ‘you are not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are abled by the abilities you have’. Born without the fibula in each of his legs, Oscar’s family’s priority was to ensure he had quality of life. His upbringing, the attitudes of his family and subsequently his friends, combined with his natural sporting ability and the support and advice of a dedicated coach, have proved to be a winning formula.
Oscar ran his first Paralympic race in Athens 2004, just six months after he first took to the track. He has since become a fierce competitor, famous for using carbon fibre dynamically engineered legs or ‘Cheetahs’.
Following a controversial ruling by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) addressing the ‘competitive advantage’ provided by Oscar’s prosthetics, he has been given clearance to run in 100, 200 and 400 metre races in both Paralympic and able-bodied track events. Next on his agenda is qualification for both the South African Olympic and Paralympic teams which will compete in London 2012 and 2013 consecutively. In order to qualify Oscar must run inside the 400 metre ‘A’ standard of 45.25 seconds between January and June 2012.
On Armistice Day last year, Oscar visited Glasgow to give a keynote speech at the Sporting Prosthetics and Orthotics Conference, held at the University of
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Strathclyde. The conference was attended by clinicians and academics, a number of prosthetics and orthotics students, as well as two product design engineering students (of which I was one).
The aims of the conference were to examine the design innovations of sporting prostheses, the prosthetic and physiotherapy rehabilitation associated with sport and the mechanisms by which people affected by disability can become involved in physical activity, exercise and sport.
Key industrial partners attended to showcase their most recent sporting innovations and rehabilitation equipment. Interestingly, the true innovations were in electronic technology – Touch Bionics iLIMB Hand – and materials used in waterproof swimming legs. There were also a number of exhibitors showcasing carbon fibre lower limb prosthesis based on the Cheetah, originally developed by Van Phillips.
Following the amputation of his leg after a sporting accident in 1975, Van Phillips began designing a foot which provided him with the capability to run and jump and do all the things he enjoyed before his amputation. The design was inspired by a combination of things – his observation of the flex in a C-shaped Chinese sword, the spring force properties he had identified in spring boards and the highly dynamic and responsive hind leg of a cheetah.
Following material and fatigue failure of a large number of prototypes, Phillips decided to combine his design with the properties of carbon fibre. The eventual result was the life altering C-shaped Cheetah foot. In 2008, the ‘Cheetah’ gained worldwide attention when Oscar Pistorous competed for an Olympic berth wearing, not one, but two of the prosthetic limbs.
The invention of the Cheetah undoubtedly changed the life of Van Phillips and, over the past 20 years, has had a positive impact on the lives of hundreds of amputees.
The 1980s also saw the invention of the first IBM computer, the Apple Mac and the CD-ROM, all of which have been developed beyond recognition. Conversely, despite technological advances in engineering materials, electronics and manufacturing processes, the Cheetah foot remains relatively unchanged. I initially surmised that it must be due to highly advanced and robust design, but it became evident that there has been very little investment in R&D within the field of sporting prosthetics and orthotics!
The Cheetah – brand name the Flex-Foot Cheetah – is manufactured by prosthetics company Össur which currently sponsors Oscar Pistorious. The IAAF has constrained further design of Oscar’s Cheetahs to ensure that they offer him no competitive advantage over able bodied athletes. This poses an interesting question – if time and money
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