Prosthetics

The technological advancement in prosthetics and orthotics has enabled the production of orthopedic aids made of lighter and stronger materials,and a modular production system has enabled an easier application of these materials.

This paper first describes the important factors in the area of orthopedic aids and their features.

After that, there is a brief presentation of the manner of production of orthopedic aids, as well as types and names of orthopedic aids.The basic principles of application of prosthetics and orthotics, orthopedic shoes and inlays, as well as mobility aids, are described in the prosthetics and orthotics section.

Prosthetics are orthopedic aids which functionally and esthetically replace a lost extremity, or a part of it. Because of that, they need to be functional, comfortable, safe, light, and esthetically acceptable by the patient.

Lower extremity prosthetics are comprised of the socket, foot, knee and hip joints, and, for skeletal prosthetics, the cosmetic covers.The prosthetic socket is always made individually based on a plaster cast of the stump, and the rest of the parts are modules which meet ISO standards on harmonization with EU norms (serially manufactured parts).

Due to technological developments, a more quality approach for the production of prosthetics with a full contact between the stump and the socket is applied, as it showed numerous advantages compared to the previous approach to prosthetics production. When talking about levels of amputation, there are specific types of prosthetics for every level of amputation.