Customer

Proteo is a start-up offering thigh and lower thigh prostheses perfectly suited to the needs of the patient. The key element of the prosthesis is the prosthetic socket, which must be perfectly adjusted to the patient’s stump. To achieve this, the stump is scanned in 3D in the first phase, and then a socket is designed based on the scan. Proteo uses the highest quality components in its prostheses, i.e., artificial knee joint, connecting and cushioning systems and prosthetic foot. The prosthetic socket must also meet all strength and visual requirements.

Challenge

The sockets needed for Proteo prosthesis must meet three main requirements:

1. Personalization – the shape of the socket must be perfectly adapted to the patient’s stump; its construction and strength must be adapted to the weight and type of physical activities that the patient will undertake.

2. Strength – Prosthetic sockets are exposed to very high strains and require high fatigue strength. Many Proteo patients are active athletes, so their requirements for the strength of prostheses are very high.

3. The appearance and quality of the surface. Prosthesis is part of the daily “wardrobe” of Proteo patients, which is why the visual aspect of prosthesis is also very important. Patients often have special requirements as to the colour or their logos visible on the socket.

Solution

1. The aspect of personalization excludes technically all manufacturing technologies except 3D printing. The geometry of the socket makes unit production in machining technologies very problematic, not to say impossible. Unit injection moulding is also not an option.

2. The sockets must be equally resistant in all axes of the socket, and high strains require a uniform internal structure. Such requirements are met only by additive powder technologies, and HP Multi Jet Fusion works best, where an additional advantage is the grey colour of the prints. All sockets for Proteo are printed in the so-called Balance mode, which ensures perfect bonding of subsequent layers and eliminates the risk of defects inside the socket.

3. Graphite is the natural colour of HP MJF prints, and most sockets are supplied in this colour. All prints for Proteo are subjected to tumble finishing. However, if the patient orders a specific colour, the sockets are lacquered with very high strength lacquers.

Benefits

✔️ Based on the requirements of Proteo, we have created an individual quality control process, so that all the supplied sockets are correct, so that we can deliver the highest quality product.

✔️ We deliver sockets over 5-10 working days, depending on the type of surface treatment: – the selected surface finishing.

✔️ Since the beginning of the collaboration, there have been no cases of socket rupture.

✔️ Once a month, we meet to exchange comments, thanks to which we have constantly improved the principles of the collaboration