Moisture Permeability of the Total Surface Bearing Prosthetic Socket with a Silicone Liner: Is It Superior to the Patella-Tendon Bearing Prosthetic Socket ?

The purpose of this study was to examine the moisture permeability properties of materials used for total surface bearing (TSB) socket with a silicone liner, a combination of Silicone Suction Socket or Icelandic Roll-On Silicone Socket (ICEROSS(R)) and an acrylic plastic sheet (Degaplast(R)), patella-tendon bearing (PTB) socket, a combination of Pe-Lite(R) and Degaplast, and wooden socket made of poplar. Moisture permeability of the socket materials was measured as the diminution of water in a container after 12 hours in a climatic chamber. Eight containers with their open, top side were uncovered (no material) or sealed with one of the socket materials: the experiment was repeated four times. One-way analysis of variance followed by Bonferroni's test was applied to examine the differences in moisture permeability. Moisture permeability levels were as follows: no material, 85.9±1.3g; poplar, 4.3±0.4g; Silicone Suction Socket, 1.1±0.2g; ICEROSS, 1.0±0.2g; Pe-Lite, 0.8±0.1g; 3S+Degaplast, 0.8±0.1g; ICEROSS+Degaplast, 0.8±0.2g; and Pe-Lite+Degaplast, 0.8±0.1g. There were significant differences between the uncovered container and the others, and between poplar and the others (P