Pressure Distribution Model for Pressure Garment Development
Abstract
This paper reports a pressure distribution model that will predict the pressure applied by a pressure garment onto a wounded body segment which could facilitate the production of custom made pressure garments. The model is generated by using the 3D data of the wounded body segment of a patient which are obtained by a non-intrusive non-contact measurement system. The circumference of the body segment is calculated from scanned digital data. Then, a circumference reduction factor is calculated to determine the circumference of the pressure garment in order to apply the design pressure by using a specific fabric with an experimentally determined modulus of elasticity in the circumferential direction. Then, the radius of curvature for each data point in a given layer is calculated and the pressure applied is obtained. Finally, a 3D pressure distribution model for the whole wounded part is constructed by stacking the pressure maps of adjacent layers. The model is verified through a comparison with the actual pressure measured by using custom made pressure garments and volunteer subjects. The comparison shows reasonable agreement. The model enables garment manufacturers/therapists to evaluate the effectiveness of a custom designed pressure garment before it is manufactured and eliminates the need for in-situ pressure measurements.
Keywords
Citation
Bin Salleh, M.N., Acar, M. and Burns, N.D. (2015), "Pressure Distribution Model for Pressure Garment Development", Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1108/RJTA-19-02-2015-B001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015 Emerald Group Publishing Limited