Advanced tuning of below knee prosthesis using the MOTEK CAREN system

A transtibial prosthetic alignment is described as a spatial three dimensions with six degrees of freedom of interrelationship between socket and foot. Moreover, dynamic alignment, a crucial step in aligning prosthesis, aims to achieve the most suitable limb position to achieve desire function and comfort. Misalignment may result in walking difficulty, skin abrasion and uneven forces acting on the residual limb within the socket, which could lead to wound, and even more serious skin and joint trauma.
However, the optimal alignment in traditional practice can take one day to several weeks from the starting to finalize in dynamic alignment, depends on prosthetist’s skill and experience. The alignment optimization, a very time- consuming process, is accomplished by subjective judgment of the prosthetist based on visual observation of gait and feedback from the patient. Furthermore, a prosthesis aligned in the traditional subjective practice seems to be lacked of any scientific biomechanical systematics.