The suitability of oxytenanthera abyssinica for development of prostheses in de

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN

0976 – 6480(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6499(Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July – August (2013), © IAEME

87

THE SUITABILITY OF OXYTENANTHERA ABYSSINICA FOR

DEVELOPMENT OF PROSTHESES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Faisal Wahib Adam1, Eric Osei Essandoh

2, Peter Oppong Tawiah

1

1Mechanical Engineering Department

2The Energy Center Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana

ABSTRACT

This work established the suitability of Oxytenanthera abyssinica (OTAB) for the design of below knee prosthesis pylons. This paper performed three types of test (bending, compressive and torsion) to establish the mechanical properties of OTAB. Untreated samples of OTAB were kept in an open space for a month and sliced for the bending and torsion tests. However cylindrical culms were used for the compressive test. The young modulus of elasticity established by this work is in the range of 2.68 GPa to 9.65 GPa. The yield strength obtained ranges from 42 to 45 MPa.The torsional strength of the test specimen was also found to range from 333 MPa to 380 MPa.OTAB, a relatively cheap bamboo mostly grown in developing countries,is found to possess all the mechanical properties required for prosthetic materials and even proves to be better than some of the conventional prosthetic pylon materials. Keywords: Amputees, Oxytenanthera Abyssinica, Prosthesis, Pylons, Suitability BACKGROUND

Amputees form a significant fraction of the population of developing countries and the need to rehabilitate them should be the concern of every citizen of developing countries. Apart from the shock, trauma and the agony amputees go through at the time of injury and subsequent amputation, the economic cost of their rehabilitation is so high that most of these patients cannot afford. Injury and disease respectively occur when precautions are not observed or taken and when health conditions are disturbed either naturally or artificially. Though injury or disease is not a respecter of persons, amputation statistics in most countries indicates that more males are likely to be amputated than females. The most frequent level of amputation is the below the knee amputation (transtibial), contributing about 47% of all amputations done across the world, followed in frequency by above the knee amputation 31% of amputations, amputations on other parts of the body constitute 22% [3].

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH IN

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (IJARET)

ISSN 0976 - 6480 (Print) ISSN 0976 - 6499 (Online) Volume 4, Issue 5, July – August 2013, pp. 87-97 © IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijaret.asp Journal Impact Factor (2013): 5.8376 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

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Lower limb Prosthesis is an artificial device that replaces the limb. Prosthesis is used to provide an amputee with the opportunity to perform functional tasks, such as ambulation (walking),this main assistive device used to aid amputees during ambulation is relatively expensive in developing countries, considering the low income levels of households in these countries. They are also not readily available, so amputees have to wait in most cases for the prostheses to be imported.

The components of a below knee limb prosthesis, mechanical support system, include a prosthetic footand ankle, the extension (pylon or shin which replaces the length of the lost limb), soft belt and a socket. The socket is the interface between the limb and the mechanical support system as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The main components of a below knee prosthesis (artificial limb)[14]

In addition to all the components in a below knee prosthesis, conventional above knee

prosthetic legs use a pneumatic or hydraulic return mechanism shown in Figure 2, to mimic the natural pendulum action of the knee [6].

Most of the materials used for the production of prostheses in developing countries are imported and thus tend to increase the production cost of prostheses in developing countries. It is against this backdrop that this project intends to investigate into the suitability of Oxytenanthera abyssinica (OTAB) for the design and fabrication of prostheses for both below and above the knee pylons (shin).

Figure 2: The main components of an above knee prosthesis (artificial limb)[14]



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The success of this investigation will bring a considerable savings in the production cost of prostheses in developing countries.As a result most amputees and their families will be offered the opportunity to afford relatively cheaper prostheses than before the introduction of the OTAB prostheses. Amputees will therefore become happy and will be enthusiastic to interact or mingle with other people in the community, does fostering greater unity and cohesion between amputees and non-amputees.

The commonality of the Oxytenanthera abyssinica species of the bamboo family across developing countries makes it a good choice for the investigation into the suitability of OTAB for the design and fabrication of prostheses in developing countries. Other common species of bamboo found in developing countries are bambusa vittata and bambussa vulgaris.The establishment of the commonality of Oxytenanthera abyssinica in African countries such as Ghana, Cote D‘Ivoire, Cameroun, Ethiopia, South Africa, and China, Malaysia, India in Asia attest to the fact that, Oxytenanthera abyssinica is really a common bamboo species in developing countries [15,16,17].

Oxytenanthera abyssinica grows naturally in warm climate with an average temperature of 35 oC and mean annual rainfall between 900 mm and 1400 mm[1]. OTAB grows and multiplies very fast in such climatic conditions thus making their yield per unit area very high.Furthermore, this advantage of OTAB coupled with its suitability should encorage the use of OTAB for the production of prostheses.

Figure 3: Offshoots of Oxytenanthera abyssinica

JUSTIFICATION

Prosthesis, an ambulation assistive device for amputees is highly recommended for accident victims who lose their limbs. In modern health care, amputation is remedied with the help of Prosthesis. Amputation occurs through accidents (non-fatal; occupational or non-occupational), civil wars, congenital deformities, diseases such as diabetes, cancer, gangrene and limb infections.



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Physical injury is the main cause of amputation in developing countries, the basis for this assertion is not far-fetched since accidents, a common cause of physical injury, occurs unintentionally and unannounced. Road accident for example is a common incidence in developing countries. Rampant incidence of non-fatal accident and civil wars in developing countries as well as lack of better health care have led to a significant upshot of the number of cases of lower limb amputations[2]. Statistics indicates that injuries in its entirety rank fifth among the top twentyburdens of diseases in World population as shown in Table 1. The breakdown of the incidence of the injuries with respect to total injuries is as follows: transport (29.27%), unintentional (43.26%), self-harm or intentional (22.32%), forces of nature, war and legal intervention (5.15%) [3]. The cost, availability and suitability of the material for the design and fabrication of prostheses are the major barriers to the development of inexpensive prostheses in most developing countries. It is therefore imperative to ascertain the suitability of common bamboo species. This paper investigates into the suitability of OTAB for the design and fabrication of lower limb prostheses in developing countries, bydetermining the mechanical properties of OTAB and comparing these mechanical properties viz a viz the properties ofconventional prosthetic pylonmaterials. METHODOLOGY

Literature on various types of bamboo was sought and reviewed after which visit were made

to some bamboo growing sites on KNUST campus, Besease, a suburb of Ejisu Municipality, in the Ashanti region of Ghana, and Sokoban, a wood industrial village in Kumasi also in the Ashanti region. Oxytenanthera abyssinica, awoody plant in developing countries was selected and studied in this work. Figure 3 shows a couple of growing stems of Oxytenanthera abyssinica.

Table 1: Top twenty global burden of diseases and injuries[3].

Pieces of bamboo with a diameter range of 35mm-80mm and length range of 200mm-350mm were prepared in several forms as shown in Figure 4 and used for compressive test, three point bend test and torsional test. An Avery Universal tensile testing Machine was used to carry out a standard compressive test on a nodeless(culm), single middle node and two-ended node bambooas shown in Figure 4.



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Figure 4: Pieces of bamboo used for the test

A cross section of the culm as shown in Figure 4 was also used to undertake a three-point

bend test. Finally, a torsional test was conducted using a cross section of the culm as used for the three-point bend test, with the help of SM1 Mk II, Torsion Testing Machine, whose setup is as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Set up and torsional loading of bamboo culm

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The three point bending test yielded the young modulus E and the proof load P. The test obtained a compressive young modulus of elasticity for the culm of oxytenanthera used for the test in the range of 2.68GPa to 9.65 GPa.This property is depictedby the graphs shown in Figures 7-8. The ultimate compressive strength obtained from these graphs ranges from 42 to 45 MPa. From Figures9-



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10, a 0.5% proof load obtained for the test specimen ranges from 1000 N to 1250 N and the setup for the bending test is as shown in Figure 6. The torsional strength of the test specimen was also found to range from 333MPa to 380 MPa and the maximum shear stress ranges from 70-80MPa(Figures 11-12). The poisson ratio was found to lie between 0.23-0.34.

Figure 6: Bending test setup and a failed bamboo strip

Figure 7: Compressive stress-strain graph for sample B2

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.70

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Strain ( mm /mm )

Stress (M

Pa)

COMPRESSIVE STRESS-STRAIN GRAPH FOR SAMPLE B2



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Figure 8: Compressive stress-strain graph for sample B11

Figure 9: Force deflection graph for sample B1

0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.0180

5

10

15

20

25

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40

45

Strain ( mm /mm )

Stress (M

Pa)

STRESS-STRAIN GRAPH FOR SAMPLE B11

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 8000

100

200

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800

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1000

Deflection( mm )

Forc

e (N)

BENDING LOAD AGAINST DEFLECTION FOR SAMPLE B1



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Figure 10: Force deflection graph for sample B2

Figure 11: Torque – angle of Twist graph for sample B2

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 7000

200

400

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800

1000

1200

1400

Deflection( mm )

Forc

e (N

)

BENDING LOAD AGAINST DEFLECTION FOR SAMPLE B2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

x 104

0

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Angle of Twist ( rad )

Torque (Nm)

TORQUE AGAINST ANGLE OF TWIST FOR SAMPLE A4



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Figure 12: Torque – angle of Twist graph for sample B2

Oxytenanthera as a bamboo species through the test was established to be a good

prostheticpylon material since it has properties superior to most conventional prosthetic pylon materials.Figure 7 shows that the compressive load was highly concentrated at the top and bottom of the specimen under loading and propagated slowly towards the mid-portion. The torsional loading of the test specimen took it through series of longitudinal waves till it failed with notches or cuts across the wavy sections as shown in Figure6.

Figure 13: Setup for compressive test and specimen after loading

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

x 104

0

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Angle of Twist ( rad )

Torq

ue (Nm

)

TORQUE AGAINST ANGLE OF TWIST FOR SAMPLE B4



96

Table 1: Comparison of the properties of the bamboo test specimen and some conventional

pylon materials[6,11] Type of Material Yield

Strength(MPa), Sy

Modulus of

Elasticity(MPa), E

Poisson

ratio, ν

Modulus of

rigidity(MPa),

G

Density(kg/m3)

Bamboo(OTAB)* 42-45 2 680-9 650 0.23-0.34 333-380 906.94

Aluminium Alloy 160 70-95 0.33 26-30 2 520-2720

Polypropylene Co-Polymer

14-60 0.4-1.8 0.1-0.3 - 878-1630

Polypropylene Thermoformable grade (PP)

28-38.6 0.008-0.011 0.1-0.3 - 900-905

Polyethylene (PE) 18-32 0.24-1.34 0.29 - 922-1060

Vinyl Esther 30-827 4-28 - - 1030-1949

E-Glass Fibre - 72.3 0.2 - 2541-2599

Titanium Alloy 170-795 103-120 0.32 39000-44000 4510

*Results obtained by this work

From Table 1, it can be deduced that OTAB is less dense than most of the conventional prosthetic materials used in the design of exo-skeletal prostheses. Also, comparingthe properties of the conventional prosthetic pylon materials to that of OTAB, it is realized OTAB is suitable for the design and fabrication of lower limb prostheses. OTAB is relatively cheaper than all the other materials captured in Table 1. Currently, typical costs of 0.04 m to 0.05 m outside diameter bamboo in Ghana and Costa Ricaare 0.3 Ghana Cedis and 0.87 to 1.34 US$ per metre respectively[18]. CONCLUSIONS

This work tested OTAB bamboo samples of length between 190-300 mm, with external and internal diameters of 42 and 28 mm respectively. The bamboo culm was assumed to be cylindrical, homogeneous and isotropic and had a mass of 196g. This paper has established the fact that OTAB is a very suitable prostheticpylon material, based on its compressive strength, light weight, torsional and bending properties. According to ISO 14243the torque required for tibial rotation of prosthetic materials is between 1 and 6 Nm while this test obtained 4-6.5 Nm.The commercialization of the production of lower limb prostheses using OTAB should be encouraged since as indicated above it meets the material requirements for the design and fabrication of prostheses. It is available, cheaper and easy to process. RECOMMENDATIONS

Considering the work done so far, it is recommended that a fatigue test should be carried out on OTAB to establish and ascertain the life span and endurance of this bamboo species. Also, the construction of prostheses using OTAB (whose age is determined) should be executed laying more emphasis on efficient ways of joining this bamboo shin to both the socket and the foot.

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M.Development of an Inexpensive Upper-Extremity Prosthesis for Use in Developing Countries



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Past, Present and Future: A Tutorial Review”, International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering & Technology (IJARET), Volume 3, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 197 - 206, ISSN Print: 0976-6480, ISSN Online: 0976-6499,

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The suitability of oxytenanthera abyssinica for development of prostheses in de