1,720,967 research outputs found
Virtual Testing Laboratory for Lower Limb Prosthesis Design
No full textThis paper presents an environment, named Virtual Testing Lab-VTL, where the orthopedic technicians can test the prosthesis replicating the traditional procedures. It is part of an innovative design framework centered on digital models of the whole patient or of his/her anatomical districts, which constitute the backbone of the whole prosthesis design process. The virtual lab permits to realize a complete amputee's digital model, an avatar, by which it is possible to execute prosthesis set up and evaluate its functionality simulating postures and movements. First, we describe the state of art of techniques used, i.e., virtual humans and motion capture systems. Then, the application of virtual humans for the prosthesis design and simulation is presented as well as preliminary results
A Digital Patient for Computer-Aided Prosthesis Design
No full textThis article concerns the design of lower limb prosthesis, both belowand above knee. It describes a newcomputer-based design framework and a digital model of the patient around which the prosthesis is designed and tested in a completely virtual environment. The virtual model of the patient is the backbone of the whole system, and it is based on a biomechanical generalpurpose
model customized with the patient’s characteristics (e.g. anthropometric measures). The software platform adopts computer-aided and knowledge-guided approaches with the goal of replacing the current development process, mainly hand made,with a virtual one. It provides the prosthetics with a set of tools to design, configure and test the prosthesis and comprehends two main environments: the prosthesis modelling laboratory and the virtual
testing laboratory. The first permits the three-dimensionalmodel of the prosthesis to be configured and generated, while the second allows the prosthetics to virtually set up the artificial leg and simulate the patient’s postures and movements, validating its functionality and configuration. General architecture and modelling/simulation tools for the platform are described as well as main aspects and results of the experimentation
A Computer-Aided Procedure to Develop Lower Limb Prosthesis
No full textWe present an innovative computer-aided procedure and the IT tools developed to design and validate lower limb prosthesis. It uses knowledge acquired from orthopaedic technicians and represented in a KBE tool, and integrates other ICT tools, such as rev.eng., 3D modelling, CAE and virtual humans
3D Modelling and Knowledge: Tools to Automate Prosthesis Development Process
No full textComputer-aided tools can help to realize custom-fit products characterized by a strict interaction with human body and definitely improve quality of life, in particular of people with disabilities. The paper refers to this context and to a specific custom-fit product, the lower limb prosthesis. It presents an innovative framework centred on virtual models of the patient’s body, to design and configure lower limb prosthesis, both transfemoral and transtibial. The framework integrates virtual prototyping and knowledge-based tools to support the orthopaedic technician during all the steps of the lower limb prosthesis design, suggesting rules and procedures for each task.Computer-aided tools can help to realize custom-fit products characterized by a strict interaction with human body and definitely improve quality of life, in particular of people with disabilities. The paper refers to this context and to a specific custom-fit product, the lower limb prosthesis. It presents an innovative framework centred on virtual models of the patient’s body, to design and configure lower limb prosthesis, both transfemoral and transtibial. The framework integrates virtual prototyping and knowledge-based tools to support the orthopaedic technician during all the steps of the lower limb prosthesis design, suggesting rules and procedures for each task. First, the considered product is introduced, and then, the new design framework is described as well as main steps and related tools, from socket modelling to standards component selection and final prosthesis assembly. Results of preliminary experimentation and final remarks conclude the paper.First, the considered product is introduced, and then, the new design framework is described as well as main steps and related tools, from socket modelling to standards component selection and final prosthesis assembly. Results of preliminary experimentation and final remarks conclude the paper
Knowledge-based System for Guided Modelling of Sockets for Lower Limb Prostheses
No full textThis paper presents a 3D CAD system to design sockets of lower limb prostheses, both transfemoral and transtibial. The proposed system, named Virtual Socket Laboratory, can be seen as a virtual laboratory where the user has at her/his disposal virtual tools that permit to emulate the procedures applied by orthopaedic technicians during the traditional socket manufacturing. The module is centred on the digital model of the patient and is based on the specific domain knowledge to guide the user during socket
modelling suggesting the most appropriate design rules and procedures. First, main steps of the new design-modelling process and system functionalities are presented.
Then, for each step, procedures carried during the traditional process, how they are executed with the new module and tools specifically developed are described
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
3D Modelling of Prosthesis Socket with a Knowledge Based Approach
No full textIn this paper, we propose a knowledge-based approach to design lower limb prostheses; in particular, we focus on the 3D modelling of the socket, the most critical component. First, the architecture
of a dedicated knowledge based engineering framework is described, detailing features of the main design steps. Then, the paper discusses the acquisition and formalization of the knowledge related both to the prosthesis manufacturing process and to the considered component. Finally, we present a computeraided
module, named Socket Modelling Assistant SMA, to design the socket; it is a virtual laboratory where the socket virtual prototype is generated directly on the digital model of patient’s residual limb.
It guides and supports the designer during each step in an automatic and/or semi-automatic way applying design rules and procedures. The guided modelling steps and available tools are described. Work in progress and future developments conclude the paper
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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