Abstract: Aiming at the problems of poor adaptability and low user satisfaction of the existing Ankle-Foot Orthosis (AFO), an AFO custom design process and method oriented to key users’ needs was proposed. The original user needs were identified through user interviews and questionnaire surveys, and the weight of key users’ needs was established through factor analysis and analytic hierarchy process. Then the TRIZ theory was adopted to resolve conflicts of key demands and specify product innovation directions. With the help of 3D scanning technology and reverse engineering software, an accurate digital model of calf plus foot was obtained, and 3D modeling was employed to construct AFO basic model based on the characteristics of calf plus foot bone and physiological surface. The model was topologically optimized in Ansys Workbench to generate the AFO lightweight design plan. Finally, through the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation by analyzing the deviations, it is determined that the design scheme is of high adaptability, which verifies the feasibility of the customized design process and method. 

Key words: ankle-foot orthosis, user needs, lightweight, custom design