Abstract
Digital healthcare technologies are transforming the face of prosthetic
care. Millions of amputees around the world do not currently have access
to any form of prosthetic healthcare. However, digital technologies
provide a promising solution. Digital healthcare technologies have the
potential to augment the range and efficiency of prosthetists so they
can reach more patients. These technologies will enable affordable
prostheses to be built on a scale larger than currently possible with
today’s clinical practices. In this paper, we explore the social aspects
of amputation as a global issue, describe current practices for
designing and manufacturing prosthetic sockets, and examine shifting
trends towards virtual care models. Importantly, we assess the
technologies used in these virtual health workflows to understand their
critical needs. Large technological gaps need to be overcome in order to
enable the mass production and distribution of prostheses digitally.
However, recent advances in computational methods and CAD/CAM
technologies are bridging this gap faster than ever before. We foresee
that these technologies will return mobility and economic opportunity to
amputees on a global scale in the near future.