POT 122:

Prosthetics & Orthotics

Materials
Course Instructor

Dr. Omayma Nada

Ph.D., Manufacturing Systems Engineering, University of Windsor, Canada
Associate Professor, Dept. of Prod. Eng. & Mech. Design, Minufiya University
Lecture Hours: 2
Lab/WS Hours: 3
Total Contact Hours: 5

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 Aim of the Course
This course mainly aims to provide the student with the
appropriate knowledge about different materials that are
commonly used in fabrication of prostheses and orthoses.
The course also can help students in understanding the
properties and processing of those materials and in
identifying the how different materials can be employed in
different application.

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 Introduction to
Prosthetics &
Orthotics Materials

WHICH ONE TO
USE?

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 Background of Orthotic and
Prosthetic Systems

Orthopedic technology targets all devices applied

externally to the user’s body to substitute a missing body
part (exoprosthesis) or to replace a missing function
(orthosis).

In general, the goal of the appliance is to improve the user’s mobility and
ability to perform daily functional activities.
Orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) refer to the science and the field of knowledge
that deals with orthoses and prostheses design and application.

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The orthotist is a person who designs and
fabricates the orthotic devices.
Similarly, a prosthetist’s profession is related
to the manufacturing and fitting the artificial
limb as well as the education of an amputee,
a person with missing limb to restore his
or her functional abilities.

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Spinal orthoses made
from plastics, metals
and foamed plastics

AFOs made from

plastics,
composites with
or without
hinges.

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Why Study
Prosthetics & Orthotics
Materials?
• The selection of the most appropriate
material for a particular purpose is a crucial
function in the design and development of P
& O devices.

• Materials influence P & O devices function,

patient satisfaction, production processes,
product life cycle, usability, usage in
different environments, and costs in a
complex way. 8
Sequential Design vs.
Concurrent Design

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Product design, selection of materials and
manufacturing processes are interrelated

Which one is
the driving?

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 Improve product performance
 Add new features to cope with customer requirements
 Make products easier and faster to manufacture
 Consider new materials and processes that are
continually being developed
 Consider sustainability and material availability issues
 Comply with regulation changes

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Technology push vs. Market pull
Technology push is a term used for the approach in which the
technology innovation is pushed to the market starting from internal
development via production to marketing function. In the “market
pull” approach on the other hand the signal for development starts
from the expressed market need

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The selection of a device material depends on the consideration of
the following factors:

● Service or performance requirements such as strength, type of loading

(static or cyclic, etc.), wear, corrosion resistance, electrical properties, etc.
● Manufacturing requirements such as ease of fabrication, casting,
welding, or machining, finish required, method of forming (hot or cold), method
of jointing various parts into an assembly, need for heat-treatment, etc.
● Economic consideration where the cost of material should be
compromised with targeted performance
● Sustainability considerations where the sources of material supply and
their sustainability can significantly affect the selection decision, in addition to
production life cycle assessment and end of life disposal and recycling as well as
environmental considerations
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P&O Materials selection strategy
Generally, a materials selection strategy has three main steps

1. The formulation of constraints that must be

satisfied if the material is to fill the desired function.

2. The formulation of a performance metric or value

function to measure how well a material matches a
set of requirements.

3. The use of a search procedure for exploring the

solution-space to identify materials that meet the
constraints, then ranking the materials by their
ability to meet the requirements.
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