Recycled plastics: An alternative material for prosthetic check socket fabrication / The Health Sciences Journal

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION@#Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), the material used to fabricate prosthetic check sockets is expensive and not locally available. This study aimed to develop an alternative material for fabricating prosthetic check sockets. Specifically, it aimed to determine the material properties of the alternative and to compare it against the standard check socket, PETG.@*METHODS@#Alternative materials were made from recycled plastic bottles (PETR), sando bags (PER) and a plasticizer. A two-roll mill and a compression molder were used to fabricate the alternative materials. All samples were prepared and tested according to the American Society for Testing and Materials for each property test. Kruskal-Wallis test with post-hoc analysis of Mann-Whitney-U test was used for impact resistance test results while descriptive analysis was used for Vicat softening point and tensile strength test results.@*RESULTS@#PER performed well against PETR in all tests and exhibited acceptable Vicat softening point (126 vs 75ºC) and impact resistance (235 vs 71 J/m) compared to the standard PETG. On the other hand, PETR performed poorly in all three tests tensile strength (0 vs 56 MPa), Vicat softening point (0 vs 75ºC) and impact resistance (20.3 vs 71 J/m).@*CONCLUSION@#PER was shown to have acceptable properties as an alternative to the standard material. However, further testing must be implemented to improve its tensile strength.