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A Thermal Management Device For A Lower-Limb Prosthesis, Yu Han, Fan Liu, Garrett Dowd, Jiang Zhe

Dr. Jiang Zhe

Excessive heat and the resulted perspiration within a prosthetic socket were the most common causes for reporting a reduced quality of life for prosthesis users. This paper presents a novel thermal management device to maintain a constant skin temperature for a lower-limb prosthesis. To decrease the prosthetic socket's thermal resistance, heat pipes were used to concentrate heat flux from the simulated skin surface to a cooling region on the outer surface of the socket where a compact heat sink was attached. A small fan was used to convect heat from the heat sink to the ambient surroundings. Thermal resistance of …