(144d) Novel Electrochemical Sensor to Detect Heat and Sweat Condition Inside the Sockets of Prosthetics

Novel electrochemical sensor to detect heat and sweat condition
inside the sockets of prosthetics.

The
most current estimate states there are approximately 1 in 190 persons living in
the United States with major limb-loss while the rate of amputations completed increases
each year. This necessitates an importance for understanding both quality of
life rated (QOLR) issues and options to remediate prevalent problems. There are
a number of important issues affecting people living with the loss of a limb
and the number one issue is ambulation or replacing the functionality of the
lost limb. Throughout time we have developed many different styles of
prosthetics to fill this deficiency, while the socket style prosthetic has
evolved to be one of the most common solutions. These socket style prosthetics facilitate
a need to replace a missing limb, but with this comes problems associated with
the use of the device. Proper fitting is important, along with proper care of
the device and residual limb. These are issues that can be controlled by the
amputee. One major issue that is uncontrollable for amputees is the combination
of heat and sweat in the socket. This is troublesome for a residual limb,
because the socket can become hot and humid during even just regular use and
can cause a variety of dermatological conditions if proper care is not taken. The
major contributors to heat and sweat inside the socket are personal activity,
and socket and liner materials of construction. Socket and liner materials of
construction negatively affects the socket environment by inhibiting heat
transfer away from the residual limb and just ten minutes of walking can
increase the average residual limb temperature by 1.7¼C. A reduction in heat
transfer causes sweat inside the socket, which can create a moist, abrasive
environment between the skin, sock or liners, and the prosthetic. The purpose
of this presentation is to discuss the feasibility of monitoring heat and sweat
by repurposing a well-known colorimetric chemistry for electrochemical
detection. The sensing unit incorporates the reaction between silver chromate
and chloride ions in sweat. This reaction changes color from brown to white and
this can be detected as a voltage change at an electrode surface. This
presentation describes the design and fabrication methods of a novel
electrochemical sensor, the surrounding concepts for characterizing the
electrical properties of electrospun polymer thin films and their surface and
fiber structures, and surface and encapsulated reaction kinetics.