CompositesWorld
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29 CompositesWorld.com NEWS N E W S N S N E W S E N W S W Orthotics & Prosthetics CW senior editor Ginger Gardiner has an engineering/ materials background and has more than 20 years in the composites industry. ginger@compositesworld.com data sheets. Our computer simulation is getting closer and closer to actual part performance. If you can improve simula- tion, you reach the right part design much faster." Lecomte says Össur expects its future devices to provide more information to the patients and allow patients to interact with their prostheses. Like Segl, he suggests that next-genera- tion composites could use piezo- electric fbers, for example, as layers in laminates that harvest energy while patients walk to recharge prosthesis batteries. Next-generation composites also could adjust device stifness on-the-fy in response to in-use conditions or even self-heal in case of damage. "Our goal is to design prostheses that are closer to the human leg," says Lecomte. "Tere is still a lot to do to achieve this goal. Human limbs are complex systems that adapt to the environ- ment and situation." He says that current bionic prostheses collect data via sensors and adjust behavior with motors. "Our next challenges are to reduce prosthesis weight and volume and efciently detect and communicate user intent." "We expect further developments in resin and fbers in the coming years, which will lead to the design of new, lighter and stronger orthotics and prosthetics," says Lecomte. Össur is also looking at means to reduce material usage, waste and, possibly, recycling. "Tere is a need to make the industry more sustainable." Read this article online | short.compositesworld.com/CFRPOrtho Read more online about the opportunities for the use of "Composites in Exoskeletons" at the CW Blog site | short.compositesworld.com/exoskel Read about how "CIBOR advances aerospace materials in medical applications" at the CW Blog site | short.gardnerweb.com/CIBOR Read more online about multifunctional composites capable of energy harvest and self-healing in "Aerocomposites: The move to multifunctionality" | short.compositesworld.com/AeroMFComp Next-generation composites could use piezoelectric layers to harvest energy to recharge device batteries. www.dieffenbacher.com Lightweighting Your World SMC | CFRP | LFT | Hybrid Process technology and automated systems for manufacturing fber-reinforced components t i n g K Düsseldorf Hall 14 / A02