Date: Apr 15, 2012 Source: MDA (
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Mentis Sciences, Inc. (Manchester, NH), has developed procedures to make prosthetic components that weigh less and that require less material than conventional prosthetic parts.
The company, which has developed a specialty in building sockets for prosthetic limbs, now is working with two large prosthetics manufacturers to move its product into the market. Mentis also has started a dialogue with the Department of Veterans Affairs to determine whether its lightweight prosthetic sockets would be useful for providing mobility to wounded warriors and other military veterans.
Mentis's expertise lies in special braiding techniques for forming the components. To form a socket, a computer-driven braiding machine lays down a narrow tape of graphite fiber layers onto a wax replica limb. The material is woven together like cloth. The manufacturing process produces a lighter prosthesis, as it uses less material than conventional prosthesis. The fully computer-driven process also allows for the storing of patient-specific prosthetic design information, which allows for replacement components to be created as needed. Mentis officials describe their process as environmentally friendly, with about 80 percent of used, disposable wax recaptured for reuse.
The company's materials and braiding knowhow were advanced through its work on a 2004 MDA-funded SBIR Phase II award to develop manufacturing technology.
