Cosmetic covers to improve artificial limbs

Prof Jonathan Corney, principle researcher on the project, believes that the current solution restricts artificial limb performance. The difficulty, he claims, is in the uniform pore size of the polyurethane, causing the flexibility in the material to remain constant throughout.

‘Your typical NHS cover is really just a tube of foam that’s slapped on the top,’ said Corney. ‘You can imagine something that looks a bit like a sausage. Not only does it not look very convincing, but these things often last only a few months as a result of excess wear.’

The two-year project aims to use a combination of computational modelling, rapid prototyping and ultrasonic irradiation to customise the manipulation of the pore structure to replicate the flexibility and appearance of a human limb.

Corney said that ultrasonic waves cause particles of the irradiated medium to be set into vibrational motion, which causes the bubbles to pulsate creating a phenomenon known as ’stable cavitation’.