Diseño y construcción de una máquina mezcladora-inyectora de silicona para el desarrollo de muñones flexibles para prótesis de miembros superiores

Abstract

This project aimed to design and construct a silicone mixing-injection machine to develop flexible socket prostheses for upper limbs. After gathering information from various bibliographic sources and analyzing existing prototypes in the market focused on socket development and similar elements within the field of biomechanics, the main design parameters were established. These parameters were prioritized using the corrected ordinal method of weighted criteria, resulting in a single solution for the design and detailed materialization according to the user requirements for the detailed design of different stages of the machine, such as mixing, injection, and purging, knowledge related to agitator design, mechanical vibrations, pneumatic systems, and the theory taught for machine element design by well-known authors widely used in higher education levels were applied, among others. Additionally, computer-aided engineering (CAE) was employed using Ansys 2020 R1 software to validate the strength and deformation results obtained through traditional design methods for various machine system components. Finally, a functional prototype of the machine was designed and built, through which relevant tests were conducted using the assigned material for socket development. Viable alternative materials were also proposed to obtain high-quality socket prostheses. After completing an appropriate cost analysis, the possibility of competing with existing products within Ecuador. It results in future studies on producing cost-effective, high-quality mixing-injection machines for prosthesis development.