Design, materials and manufacturing of additively manufactured prosthetic limbs: a state-of-the-art review
Reviews on Advanced Materials Science, cilt.65, sa.1, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Derleme
- Cilt numarası: 65 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1515/rams-2025-0254
- Dergi Adı: Reviews on Advanced Materials Science
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Compendex, INSPEC, Directory of Open Access Journals, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: additive manufacturing, advanced materials, interface biomechanics, ISO 10328, prosthetic limbs, prosthetic socket design
- Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a promising technology for producing patient-specific prosthetic limbs with complex geometries and rapid customization capabilities. However, the reliability and long-term structural safety of additively manufactured prosthetic systems remain critical challenges due to process-induced anisotropy, microstructural defects and environmental degradation of polymer-based materials. This study presents a systematic review of additively manufactured prosthetic limbs using a process-structure-property-performance (PSPP) framework to evaluate the relationships between manufacturing processes, material microstructures, mechanical reliability and clinical performance. A structured literature review following PRISMA guidelines identified 77 peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2026, which were classified into materials and process investigations, mechanical reliability studies, computational biomechanics analyses and clinical validation studies. Quantitative comparisons of major additive manufacturing technologies including fused filament fabrication (FFF), selective laser sintering (SLS), Multi Jet Fusion (MJF), vat photo polymerization and metal powder-bed fusion are presented in terms of tensile strength, fatigue strength, statistical variability and dimensional accuracy. The analysis shows that fatigue strengths of SLS-produced PA12 components typically range between 22 and 28 »MPa at 106 cycles, whereas FFF carbon-fibre reinforced nylon components exhibit fatigue strengths between 15 and 24 »MPa depending on print orientation, reflecting the influence of interlayer anisotropy. Reliability concerns including porosity-induced crack initiation, interlayer delamination, residual stresses in metal AM components and moisture-induced degradation in polyamide materials are systematically evaluated. The review also examines the alignment of existing experimental studies with ISO 10328 prosthetic structural testing standards, revealing that relatively few investigations replicate combined bending-torsion cyclic loading representative of human gait. The findings highlight key reliability challenges and identify future research directions required to improve process repeatability, fatigue durability and clinical validation of additively manufactured prosthetic systems.