Uploaded April 2015 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
Whether a missing limb is due to disease, accident, or birth defects; millions of people around the world use prosthesis to replace that missing part of the body. The technology and materials used in prosthetics have advanced enormously over the years and in particular in the last couple of decades. From as far back as the 1700s, limbs lost due to wartime injuries or limbs lost to sickness were replaced with prosthetics. In those times, prosthesis was crude and often made of heavy wood, metal, or leather. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that modern plastics were introduced to prosthetic limbs. Today, improved engineering of prosthetics have led to the use of thermoplastics, titanium, aluminum, and other materials, to better suit the patient’s needs leading to more active and comfortable patients.
The most challenging aspect of prosthesis is finding an appropriate material that has properties as close as possible to those of the human body part, while also optimizing comfort and function. Considerations that must be taken into account include tensile strength, biocompatibility, flexibility, and cost. One of the more common material groups used today is thermoplastics with reinforcement textiles such as carbon and fiberglass. Thermoplastics are used because of their ability to be easily reshaped during fabrication and other processing. Their wide range of thicknesses and stiffnesses, their low density, and their low cost are ideal variables when it comes to flexibility, weight, and price. Thermoplastics have a random molecular orientation while in the molten phase, however, they have a densely packed crystalline structure while in the solid phase. This crystalline structure allows for easy manipulation of shape to fit the contours of the patient through the application of heat.
Despite all the advantages of thermoplastics used for prosthetics, these materials have their disadvantages as well. Thermoplastics are known to shrink, tear, or even split over time. Our group will discuss the advantages and limitations of thermoplastic materials used to make prosthetics. We will then discuss the MSE triangle and explain how the structure, properties, and processing of thermoplastics contribute to their wide use in prosthetics today. For example, thermoplastics can be improved in a manner similar to alloying metals: combining different thermoplastics to achieve the desired properties.
See comments for sources.
Whether a missing limb is due to disease, accident, or birth defects; millions of people around the world use prosthesis to replace that missing part of the body. The technology and materials used in prosthetics have advanced enormously over the years and in particular in the last couple of decades. From as far back as the 1700s, limbs lost due to wartime injuries or limbs lost to sickness were replaced with prosthetics. In those times, prosthesis was crude and often made of heavy wood, metal, or leather. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that modern plastics were introduced to prosthetic limbs. Today, improved engineering of prosthetics have led to the use of thermoplastics, titanium, aluminum, and other materials, to better suit the patient’s needs leading to more active and comfortable patients.
The most challenging aspect of prosthesis is finding an appropriate material that has properties as close as possible to those of the human body part, while also optimizing comfort and function. Considerations that must be taken into account include tensile strength, biocompatibility, flexibility, and cost. One of the more common material groups used today is thermoplastics with reinforcement textiles such as carbon and fiberglass. Thermoplastics are used because of their ability to be easily reshaped during fabrication and other processing. Their wide range of thicknesses and stiffnesses, their low density, and their low cost are ideal variables when it comes to flexibility, weight, and price. Thermoplastics have a random molecular orientation while in the molten phase, however, they have a densely packed crystalline structure while in the solid phase. This crystalline structure allows for easy manipulation of shape to fit the contours of the patient through the application of heat.
Despite all the advantages of thermoplastics used for prosthetics, these materials have their disadvantages as well. Thermoplastics are known to shrink, tear, or even split over time. Our group will discuss the advantages and limitations of thermoplastic materials used to make prosthetics. We will then discuss the MSE triangle and explain how the structure, properties, and processing of thermoplastics contribute to their wide use in prosthetics today. For example, thermoplastics can be improved in a manner similar to alloying metals: combining different thermoplastics to achieve the desired properties.
See comments for sources.
