Design, Manufacture, and Testing of an Affordable Taylor Spatial Frame External Fixator
F. Ferryanto (a), Nandy A. Fauzy (a), Andi Isra Mahyuddin (a*), Tatacipta Dirgantara (b)
a) Mechanical Design Research Group
b) Lightweight Structure Research Group
Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Jalan Ganesa 10, Bandung 40132, INDONESIA
*Corresponding author email: aim[at]ftmd.itb.ac.id
Abstract
Bone fractures due to accidents are very common occurrences and could cause permanent disability if not treated properly. An external fixation device may be used to keep fractured bones stabilized and in alignment. The device could be adjusted externally to ensure the bones remain in an optimal position during the healing process. Recently, alternative designs based on Stewart Platform, the Taylor Spatial Frame (TSF), have been developed with objective to correct complex fractures or bone pathologies. However, the TSF is rarely available in Indonesia and not affordable by most hospitals. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to develop an affordable External Bone Fixator TSF. In the design process, a set of Design Requirement and Objective (DR&O) was formulated. The concept design was developed based on the DR&O and finalized to detail design. Static analysis using ANSYS was employed to ensure the strength of TSF. Then, the TSF was manufactured by using material AA7075 T6 and SS304. To assess the functionality of TSF, the kinematics assessment was conducted. Bone deformation parameters were measured in the anteroposterior, lateral, and axial view. The parameters are then used as input in the previously developed software, to obtain the length of each strut to position the fractured bone. The length of strut was used to shift the TSF until the fracture bone was completely joined. The relative displacement was measured to obtain the error which is 1 – 3 mm. Therefore, it could be concluded that the TSF has been successfully developed.
Keywords: Bone Fracture, Mechanical Design, Taylor Spatial Frame, External Fixation
Topic: Biomedical, Robotic and ICT engineering